New Jersey Assembly Bill A1395

New Jersey 2022-2023 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/11/22
• Refer: 1/11/22

Caption

Provides for agreement between Secretary of State and AOC to match information in Statewide voter registration system with certain jury records in order to identify and remove ineligible non-citizen voter registrants from system.

Impact

By implementing these measures, A1395 is poised to affect how voter registrants are verified and the overall management of the state’s voter registry. Each county commissioner of registration is also tasked with maintaining and updating voter records within this Statewide system. This bill aims to centralize voter registration oversight and prevent unauthorized access to sensitive voter data, ultimately improving the security and accuracy of the voting process in New Jersey.

Summary

Assembly Bill A1395 addresses the maintenance and integrity of the Statewide voter registration system in New Jersey. The bill mandates that the Secretary of State enters into agreements with various state agencies, including the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), to match voter registration data against several state databases. This includes records from jury duty requests to identify and remove non-citizen individuals from the voter registration list. The fundamental objective of the bill is to ensure that those who are ineligible to vote are accurately removed from the registration system, thereby enhancing electoral integrity.

Contention

The potential points of contention surrounding A1395 may arise from the implications it has for non-citizen residents regarding their eligibility to participate in the electoral process. While supporters argue that the bill is a necessary step toward protecting the integrity of elections, critics may express concerns about the methodologies used for data matching and the risk of removing eligible voters mistakenly. The retroactive application of the agreements to previous juror records from as far back as the 1990s may also raise questions about privacy and the accuracy of historical data used in such matches.