New Jersey Statutes 19:59-15. Procedure relative to ballot transmission by electronic means
Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 19:59-15
- County board: means the county board of elections in a county. See New Jersey Statutes 19:1-1
- Election: means the procedure whereby the electors of this State or any political subdivision thereof elect persons to fill public office or pass on public questions. See New Jersey Statutes 19:1-1
- person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
- State: extends to and includes any State, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia and the Canal Zone. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
- Superintendent: means the superintendent of elections in counties wherein the same shall have been appointed. See New Jersey Statutes 19:1-1
b. All copies of voted ballots received by electronic means shall be approved, disapproved, processed and counted, and disputes in connection therewith shall be handled, in the same manner as is applicable to other vote by mail ballots. No ballot received after the time designated for the closing of the polls shall be counted.
c. The county board of elections shall take all necessary precautions to preserve the security of the ballot materials and specifically shall ensure that the vote cast by a voter using a ballot transmitted by electronic means is not revealed, except to the extent necessary by law or judicial determination. Upon the completion of all inspections of a ballot transmitted by electronic means required by law, the board or any employee thereof acting under its direction shall promptly separate the waiver certification from the ballot transmitted by electronic means. Any person handling such a ballot shall not identify the votes cast by any voter, except upon judicial determination.
d. Prior to certification of the results of the election, the county board shall:
(1) compare the information on the copy transmitted by electronic means of each voted ballot with the same on the original voted ballot sent by air mail by the voter who transmitted to the county board a copy of the voted ballot by electronic means, and the signature on the statement received by electronic means with the signature on the certificate received by air mail; and
(2) ascertain whether an original voted ballot has been received for each copy of a voted ballot received by electronic means and counted.
Whenever the particulars of the copy of a voted ballot transmitted by electronic means do not conform exactly with the particulars of the original voted ballot sent by air mail to the county board afterwards by that voter and whenever an original voted ballot has not been received which corresponds to a copy of a voted ballot transmitted by electronic means which has been received and counted by the county board, those ballots and all other pertinent documents and information relative to those ballots shall be turned over to the superintendent of elections in counties having a superintendent and the prosecutor in all other counties for further investigation and action.
e. Within 30 days after the election, the county board shall gather and keep together the copy of the voted ballot transmitted by electronic means, the certified statement and the original voted ballot sent by air mail of each voter who transmitted a copy of a voted ballot by electronic means. Those ballots needed for an investigation conducted by the superintendent of elections or the county prosecutor, as the case may be, or by any other law enforcement official shall be returned to the county board as soon as practicable after the conclusion of the investigation. All ballots and documents relative to a copy of a voted ballot transmitted by electronic means and received by the county board shall be retained by it for a period of one year following the day of the election. The superintendent of elections in counties having a superintendent and the prosecutor in all other counties shall have the authority to impound all such documents whenever the superintendent or prosecutor shall deem such action necessary.
L.1995, c.195, s.4; amended 2008, c.61, s.16; 2017, c.39, s.16; 2022, c.72, s.14.