19:12-7.1 Posting of voter information notice by county board of elections; content and form.
1. a. A county board of elections shall have posted a voter information notice, which shall be referred to as a voter's bill of rights, in a conspicuous location in each polling place before the opening of the polls on the day of any election.
The notice shall contain:
the date of the election and the hours during which polling places will be open;
a statement that sample ballots are available at the polling place for review by the voter;
instruction for the use of the voting machine in that polling place and an explanation of what instructions for voting are available at the polling place for the voter;
instruction for a voter who is voting for the first time;
instruction for a voter who is required to provide identification pursuant to the federal "Help America Vote Act of 2002" and R.S.19:15-17 prior to casting a vote;
instruction on how to cast a vote if the voter cannot be present at a polling place on the day of the election;
an explanation of the right of the voter to vote in privacy, regardless of the voter's physical abilities;
an explanation of the right of the voter to a provisional ballot, including in the event that a mail-in ballot has been applied for and not received or not transmitted to the county board of elections before the day of any election, and the other circumstances under which a voter has a right to a provisional ballot;
an explanation of the right of the voter to receive a replacement ballot for a ballot that has been spoiled, destroyed, lost or never received;
an explanation of the right of the voter to ask for and receive assistance in voting;
an explanation of the right of the voter to take a reasonable amount of time in casting a vote on a voting machine;
an explanation of the right of the voter to bring written material into the polling place for the voter's personal use in casting a vote;
instruction on how to contact the appropriate officials if a voter's right to vote or right to otherwise participate in the electoral process has been challenged or violated;
general information on federal and State laws that prohibit acts of fraud or misrepresentation and the penalties for those acts; and
such other statement, instruction or explanation the Secretary of State may deem appropriate to ensure the full and knowledgeable participation of the voter in the process.
The requirement to post this notice in each polling place shall not replace, supersede or void any other requirement set forth in law for the posting of information in each polling place apart from the voter information notice.
b.The Secretary of State shall prescribe the form and specific content of the voter information notice, which may be comprised of more than one page. If the notice is comprised of more than one page, each page shall be posted separately. For an election district in which the primary language of 10 percent or more of the registered voters is a language other than English, the Secretary of State shall prescribe an official version of the voter information notice in that other language or languages for use in that election district. The notice shall be posted in English and in the other language or languages in the polling places in each such district. The alternate language shall be determined based on information from the latest federal decennial census.
c.A county board of elections may modify or supplement the voter information notice used in a county or municipality to provide additional information specific to that county or a municipality in that county, provided, however, that any such modification or supplementation shall be submitted to the Secretary of State for prior approval.
d.The voter information notice shall be printed on each sample ballot, to the extent practicable, or if not practicable, information on how to view or obtain a copy of the voter information notice shall be printed on each sample ballot.
e.The voter information notice, including one modified or supplemented pursuant to subsection c. of this section, shall be made accessible on the official Internet site of the State by the Secretary of State and each county board of elections shall ensure that the official Internet site of the county contains a link to that notice.
f.The provisions of this section shall not give rise to a legal cause of action.
g.The State shall be liable for the costs incurred by local government entities for compliance with this section, and they shall be reimbursed for those costs, upon application, by the State Treasurer.
L.2005, c.149, s.1; amended 2009, c.79, s.30.
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Last modified: October 11, 2016