A1186 —

A1186 ABUACS StatementFISCAL 6/18/18ESTIMATE ASSEMBLY BUDGET COMMITTEE   STATEMENTLEGISLATIVE TOFISCAL  ESTIMATE ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR ASSEMBLY, No.

1186   STATE OF NEW JERSEY 218th LEGISLATURE   DATED:

 JUNEOCTOBER 18,17, 2018         SUMMARY The  AssemblySynopsis: Budget Committee reports favorably an Assembly committee substitute to Assembly Bill No.

1186.Permits registered voters to receive mail-in ballots automatically for all elections under certain conditions.

     Type Thisof substituteImpact: changes current law to enable a qualified voter to vote by mail-in ballot in all future elections.  The substitute also provides that a voter who requested a mail-in ballot for all future elections, including future general elections, will continue to receive a mail-in ballot for such elections until the voter notifies the appropriate county clerk in writing that he or she no longer wishes to receive such a ballot, or is no longer eligible to vote.

     Indeterminate Theexpenditure substituteincrease also:to State General fund.

Indeterminate expenditure increase and decrease to local government funds.

Agencies Affected:

Department of State, Division of Elections;

County Clerks Offices;

County Boards of Elections.

    Office of Legislative Services Estimate Fiscal Impact Year 1  Year 2  Year 3    State Cost   Indeterminate     Local Cost   Indeterminate     Local Savings   Indeterminate           ·         This bill changes current law to provide that a registered voter can choose to vote by mail-in ballot in all future elections, including general elections, held in this State.

·         This bill provides that a sample ballot for an election would not be sent to any qualified voter who has been sent a mail-in ballot for an election and whose voted ballot has been received by the county board of elections.

·         The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) estimates that if this bill is enacted, it is likely that there will be an increase in the number of mail-in ballots sent for all future elections, but there will also be a reduction in the number of sample ballots produced, mailed, and returned as undeliverable, so the associated costs or savings will most likely depend on the number of ballots needed or not needed, and the cost for each ballot in each county.

·         This bill also makes administrative changes to current law, which may result in fiscal consequences for the county clerks and the county boards of elections.

·         The bill requires the Secretary of State to update the Statewide Voter Registration System to allow the postal tracking of mail-in ballots using Intelligent Mail barcodes, or a similar successor tracking system, which may result in an increased expenditure by the Secretary of State.

·         The bill requires each county clerk to add to the list of registered voters receiving a mail-in ballot for all future elections without request, each voter who requested a mail-in ballot for the 2016 general election, and requires the clerk to transmit to each such voter a notice informing the voter that he or she will automatically receive a mail-in ballot unless the voter informs the clerk otherwise, which may result in an increased expenditure by each county clerk.

    BILL DESCRIPTION         This bill changes current law to enable a qualified voter to vote by mail-in ballot in all future elections.  The bill also provides that a voter who requested a mail-in ballot for all future elections, including future general elections, will continue to receive a mail-in ballot for such elections until the voter notifies the appropriate county clerk in writing that he or she no longer wishes to receive such a ballot, or is no longer eligible to vote.

      Current law provides that if a voter who has requested a mail-in ballot for future general elections only does not vote in the fourth general election following the general election at which the voter last voted, the county clerk will send a notice to that voter to ascertain whether he or she continues to reside at the address from which that voter is registered to vote.

      The bill also:

       2)2) permitsrequires athe countySecretary boardof State to sendupdate anthe acknowledgementStatewide Voter Registration System to aallow voterthe whenpostal histracking of mail-in ballots using Intelligent Mail barcodes, or hera mail-insimilar ballotsuccessor hastracking beensystem, received;upon the finding by the Secretary of State that such technology is viable;

      3) requiresreformats the Secretarytext of State to update the Statewiderequired Voterpublic Registrationnotice Systemconcerning to allow the postaluse tracking of mail-in ballots usingthat Intelligentappears Mailin barcodes,newspapers orbefore aan similarelection; successor tracking system, upon the finding by the Secretary of State that such technology is viable;

      4) reformatspermits the textclerk of each county to use an alternative mail-in ballot certification that permits the requiredvoter publicto noticecertify concerningthe correctness of the useidentifying information contained on the label of mail-inthe ballotsballot thatinstead appearsof inrequiring newspapersthe beforevoter anto election;provide the voter’s name and address on the certification;

and       5)8) permitsadds to the clerklist of registered voters receiving a mail-in ballot for all future elections without further request, each countyvoter towho userequested anand alternativereceived a mail-in ballot certificationfor thatthe permitsgeneral theelection.  voterThe tocounty certifyclerks theare correctnessto oftransmit theto identifyingeach informationsuch containedvoter ona thenotice labelthat ofhe theor ballotshe insteadwill ofautomatically requiringreceive thea votermail-in toballot providefor theall voter’sfuture nameelections andunless addressthe onvoter otherwise informs the certification;clerk.

      6)In providesaddition, thatamended everybill: mail-in ballot that bears a postmark date of the day of an election and that is received within 48 hours after the time of the closing of the polls for that election is to be considered valid and canvassed;

      7)1) addsreformats twoexisting dayslaw toso that at the deadlinetop of a vote by whichmail countyballot andapplication, Statethe canvassersfirst boardsoption musta meetqualified aftervoter anwill election,have ais recountto mayvote bein requested,all future elections, including general elections, and athe petitionsecond challengingoption anya nominationqualified orvoter electionwill have is to electivevote officein mayany besingle filed;election held in this State;

and       8)2) providesincludes thaton the clerkcertificate of each county must add to the list of registered voters receiving a mail-in ballot forused all future elections without further request each voter in thea countyprimary whoelection requested and received a mail-inspace ballot for the 2016 general election.  Each voter so added would have the option to informallow the clerk in writing that the voter does not wish to receivefill-in a mail-in ballot automatically for all future elections.  The county clerks are to transmit to each such voter a notice that he or she will automatically receive a mail-in ballot for all future elections unless the votername informsof the clerkpolitical inparty; writing that he or she does not wish to receive such a ballot.

 and FISCAL      IMPACT:3) permits the clerk of each county to print on the margin of the flap of the inner envelope of the mail-in ballot an alternative certificate that permits the voter to certify the correctness of the voter’s name and address.

       The  OfficeFISCAL ofANALYSIS Legislative  ServicesEXECUTIVE (OLS)BRANCH believes  that      theNone fiscalreceived. impact of this bill is indeterminate, and notes that if the bill is enacted, it is likely that there will be an increase in the number of mail-in ballots sent to voters for future elections, but there will also be a reduction in the number of sample ballots produced, mailed, and returned as undeliverable, so that the cost or saving associated with the bill will most likely depend on the number of ballots needed or not needed, and the cost for each ballot in each county.  The OLS also notes that because the bill requires the Secretary of State to update the Statewide Voter Registration System to allow the postal tracking of mail-in ballots using Intelligent Mail barcodes, or a similar successor tracking system, there may be an increase in expenditures by the Secretary of State to cover this cost.

  OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES         The OLS estimates that there will be an increase in the number of mail-in ballots sent for all future elections, including general elections, pursuant to the provisions of this bill, but there will also be a reduction in the number of sample ballots produced, mailed and returned as undeliverable.  Thus, the associated costs or savings will most likely depend on the number of ballots needed or not needed, and the cost for each ballot in each county.  The exact amount of money that would be expended on mail-in ballots, and the amount of money saved on sample ballots, would likely vary from county to county and cannot be estimated at this time due to a lack of information.

      With respect to mail-in ballots, OLS estimates that the bill could potentially increase the number of mail-in ballots that would be requested, thus adding to the costs of the county clerks and the county boards of elections for the ballot’s production, mailing, and processing upon return.  Determining the number of additional ballots needed is difficult, with perhaps more requested for general elections than all other elections, as general elections tend to result in the largest number of voters voting.

      The OLS notes that the bill also makes administrative changes to current law, which may have fiscal consequences.  One potential cost-saving change is the reformatting of the text of the required public advertisement concerning the use of mail-in ballots that appears in newspapers before an election.  The reformatted text may require less advertising space, perhaps reducing the costs of each such advertisement.  One change that may increase costs is the cost to update the Statewide Voter Registration System to allow the postal tracking of mail-in ballots using Intelligent Mail barcodes, or a similar successor tracking system.  This change would likely require at least a one-time programming expense for the Secretary of State and may require additional monitoring.  Another change that may increase costs for the county clerks is the cost of informing each voter who voted by mail-in ballot in the general election that he or she will automatically receive a mail-in ballot for all future elections, unless the voter informs the clerk in writing that he or she does not wish to receive such a ballot.  The fiscal impact of this change will likely vary from county to county, depending on the format and cost of the notice, and the number of voters from the county who voted in the 2016 general election.  Finally, one change that may result in little or no increase or decrease in costs to the county clerk may be the provision that permits a clerk to use an alternative mail-in ballot certificate to enable a voter using a mail-in ballot to certify the correctness of the voter’s name and address.

Section:

State Government Analyst:

Kimberly M.

Clemmensen Senior Fiscal Analyst Approved:

Frank W.

Haines III Legislative Budget and Finance Officer   This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).