QUIGLEY/CONNERS/PRIETO MEASURE TO BRING OVERSEAS VOTING INTO 21ST CENTURY ADVANCES

Measure Would Ease Restrictions, Update Ballot Transmission Methods for NJ Residents Stationed or Living Abroad

(TRENTON) - An Assembly panel today released legislation Assembly members Joan M. Quigley, Jack Conners, and Vincent Prieto sponsored to ease archaic voting restrictions on New Jerseyans living or stationed overseas by allowing them to submit their ballots through 21st Century communications means.

"The act of voting should not be a daunting or impossible task simply because a person is an ocean away from home," said Quigley (D-Hudson), chairwoman of the Assembly State Government Committee.  "It's past time that we streamlined the process to account for the near-global connectivity afforded us by the advent of the Internet and e-mail."

Under current law, a New Jersey resident living or stationed overseas during a primary, special, or general state or federal election can only request a ballot via airmail or fax.

The bill (A-2204) would expand the acceptable means of submitting a completed voter registration form, ballot application, or ballot to include e-mail.

The sponsors said the limitation in the law, which was last updated in 1993, was brought to their attention during a January 28 Assembly State Government hearing on the state's no-excuse absentee ballot program.

According to testimony given by Bob Giles, the supervisor for elections for Ocean County, a New Jersey soldier stationed in Afghanistan who had no access to a fax machine or mail during the course of his duty was able to request the Ocean County Clerk scan and e-mail him a blank ballot.  The soldier then downloaded the ballot, filled it out, scanned the completed ballot and e-mailed it to a company that turns e-mails into faxes.  That company then faxed the soldier's ballot back to the county clerk, who recorded the faxed ballot.

"It is ridiculous that a soldier registered to vote in New Jersey had to jump through that many hoops just to exercise his right to vote," said Conners (D-Camden), a former Army National Guardsman and Army Reservist.  "Our election laws must be reflective of the times so that the act of voting, even for someone overseas or at war, is as simple as possible."

In order to ensure the validity of electronically submitted votes, individuals voting via e-mail or other electronic means would still be required to complete a paper copy of the ballot that would be sent to the appropriate county board of elections.

"While we have an obligation to make sure everyone has the opportunity to vote, we also have an obligation to ensure the voting process is free from fraud," said Prieto (D-Hudson).  "Requiring a paper trail will help ensure ballots cast electronically are valid and secure."

The Assembly State Government Committee unanimously released the measure.  It now heads to the Assembly Speaker, who decides if and when to post it for a floor vote.

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