Take a Look Essex County: NJ Senate Approves Early Voting Legislation

“The problems we saw in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy highlighted the vulnerabilities within our voting system and underscored the need to improve the process. The reality is that these are problems that will only recur during the next emergency if we do not improve the current process,” said Senator Nia H. Gill (D-Essex/Passaic). “Just as many states already have, it is time to modernize our election system. Establishing early voting will create a more accessible, secure and reliable voting process that will ensure access to the polls and the integrity of the vote.”

The Senate approved the bill by a vote of 21-15. It heads to the General Assembly next. The bill would establish an early voting procedure to allow voters to cast their ballots at designated polling places starting 15 days before the primary election and the General Election, and ending on the Sunday before the election.

A municipality holding elections on the second Tuesday in May, by an ordinance adopted by its governing body could also conduct early voting for municipal elections. Each county board of elections would be responsible for creating and carrying out a written plan to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, the integrity of the voting process including the security of the ballots.

Early voting would enable a registered voter to vote at a designated polling place by paper ballot. Polling places would be open to voters seven days a week, with uniform voting hours statewide:

• Monday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
• Sundays, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Each county would be required to have at least three early voting locations, however, counties with at least 150,000 but less than 300,000 would be required to have five public locations for early voting; those with 300,000 or more registered voters would be required to have seven polling locations for early voting. The bill also would require that early voting sites be geographically located to ensure access by voters.

“There are few rights more important than a citizen’s ability to vote, so creating a secure and reliable system that ensures that our residents have access to the polls must be a priority,” said Gill. “This is a common sense measure that will substantially improve our laws. At the same time, the revisions we made, to include general elections but not primaries in early voting, will curb the expected cost of the program. Given the insecurity of our current system, we cannot delay the implementation of early voting any longer. New Jersey must move its voting system into the 21st Century, and this bill is the most effective way to do that. It will expand opportunities for people to participate in the process and exercise their most fundamental constitutional right.”

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