Elections, voting by mail and the 19th Amendment
Governor Phil Murphy issued Executive Order 177 to create a modified vote-by-mail election this year, suspending the sending of sample ballots and requiring each county to send vote-by-mail ballots with prepaid postage to all active registered voters. The order, signed on Aug. 14, drew criticism from Republicans, who raised concerns about costs, inefficiency and voter fraud.
Just prior to the issuing of the executive order, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to raise concerns about fraud in New Jersey. “Absentee Ballots are fine. A person has to go through a process to get and use them. Mail-In Voting, on the other hand, will lead to the most corrupt Election in USA history,” wrote Trump. “Bad things happen with Mail-Ins. Just look at the Special Election in Patterson, NJ. 19% of Ballots a FRAUD!”
Executive Order 177 will permit New Jersey’s registered voters to either return their ballot through a secure drop box or turn in their ballot at a polling location on Election Day. The Department of State is also being asked to implement a new online voter registration system where New Jersey residents will have the opportunity to register to vote. The system is expected to launch on Sept. 4.
A series of bills addressing New Jersey’s vote-by-mail procedures moved through the Assembly State and Local Government Committee and are poised for consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Among them, the Ballot Cure Act (A-4276 (Zwicker)/S-2598 (Gopal)) would enable voters to access a confidential system to see whether their provisional, mail-in, or overseas ballot was accepted for counting. Additionally, mail-in ballots would not be rejected for physical defects on the inner envelope, outer envelope, certificate or ballot outside the control of the voter. The bill also stipulates that county boards of election must record the acceptance or rejection of a voter’s ballot and notify the voter within 24 hours of a decision to reject the ballot. The voter would have up to 14 days after the close of the polls on Election Day to provide a cure for the ballot.
“Every eligible voter has the right to participate in our electoral process,” said Assemblyman Dan Benson, a prime co-sponsor of the bill. “Doing our due diligence, as this bill does, to ensure voters mailing their ballot can track their vote and can rectify an issue that would invalidate their ballot is absolutely necessary for fair representation.”
The bill heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee and remains pending in the Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee. In addition to the Ballot Cure Act, the Assembly State and Local Government Committee considered bills that would allow the office of the municipal clerk to receive mail-in ballots and applications for those ballots by hand delivery, and extends the deadline for mail-in ballots to be received and canvassed (A-4259 (Chiaravalloti)/S-2496 (Sarlo)); require certain information to increase public awareness and use of voting by mail (A-4320 (Zwicker)/S-2633 (Gopal)); and require county boards of election to establish ballot drop boxes in each county at least seven days before the election (A-4475 (Reynolds-Jackson)/S-2580 (Pou)).
Last week, the NJSBA hosted “The 19th Amendment and the Role Lawyers Play in Elections,” which examined the role women play in the electoral process and the role lawyers can play in the election. The panel featured a history of the women’s suffragist movement by Lucienne Beard, executive director of the Alice Paul Institute, and other experts discussing voting and the electoral process in New Jersey.
This is a status report provided by the New Jersey State Bar Association on recently passed and pending legislation, regulations, gubernatorial nominations and/or appointments of interest to lawyers, as well as the involvement of the NJSBA as amicus in appellate court matters. To learn more, visit njsba.com.