New Jersey Statutes § 19:15A-1 Early voting

(1) start on the 4th calendar day before a non-presidential primary election for a non-presidential general election and end on the second calendar day before that non-presidential primary election;

(2) start on the 6th calendar day before a presidential primary election for a presidential general election and end on the second calendar day before that presidential primary election; or

(3) start on the 10th calendar day before a general election and end on the second calendar day before that general election.

(1) For the primary and the general election, each county board of elections shall designate at least three, but not more than five, public locations within each county as the sites for early voting to occur, except that the county board shall designate at least five, but not more than seven, public locations for early voting if the number of registered voters in the county is at least 150,000 but less than 300,000, and shall designate at least seven, but not more than 10, public locations for early voting if the number of registered voters in the county is 300,000 or more. This provision shall not be interpreted to prevent county boards of elections, at their discretion, from establishing additional locations in excess of the five, seven, or 10 location limits respectively set forth herein; provided, however, that the State shall be required to provide reimbursement for the costs of locations up to and including the five, seven, or 10 respective limits established herein, and shall not be required to provide reimbursement for additional locations beyond those limits under section 6 of this act, P.L. 2021 , c. 40 (C.19:15A-6). The number of registered voters in each county shall be determined ahead of the selection of early voting sites pursuant to a uniform standard which shall be developed by the Secretary of State through the rulemaking process pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L. 1968 , c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.). Whenever possible, early voting locations shall be geographically located so as to ensure both access in the part of the county that features the greatest concentration of population, according to the most recent federal decennial census of the United States, and access in various geographic areas of the county. All early voting locations shall be public facilities, such as county courthouses, public libraries and the offices of the municipal clerk, county clerk, and county board of elections, or places of public accommodation as provided under Title 10 of the Revised Statutes. No public school building and no building used as a public school, as that term is defined under N.J.S.18A:1-1, shall, however, be designated as an early voting location. The locations shall be designated at the same time as all other polling places are designated by the board of elections. In the event of a tie vote among members of the county board with respect to the selection of sites for early voting, the county clerk shall cast the deciding vote. Once early voting locations are designated in each county, county boards of election shall evaluate and, if deemed necessary, revise these locations in order to accommodate significant changes in the number of registered voters within each county, reflect the population distribution and density within each county, or because of similar circumstances. The Secretary of State may develop the criteria to be used by county boards of election to revise the location of early voting sites and shall prescribe how often such revision shall take place.

(2) Whenever a municipality that conducts regular municipal elections in May chooses to participate in early voting for the regular municipal election, the county board of elections shall designate at least one public location, but not more than three public locations, within the municipality as the site or sites for early voting to occur. This provision shall not be interpreted to prevent a county board of elections, at its discretion, from establishing additional locations in excess of the three location limit set forth herein; provided, however, that the State shall be required to provide reimbursement for the costs of locations up to and including the three location limit established herein, and shall not be required to provide reimbursement for additional locations beyond that limit under section 6 of this act, P.L. 2021 , c. 40 (C.19:15A-6). Whenever possible, each such location shall be geographically located in the part of the municipality that features the greatest concentration of population, according to the most recent federal decennial census of the United States. All early voting locations shall be public facilities, such as municipal courthouses and the offices of the municipal clerk, or places of public accommodation as provided under Title 10 of the Revised Statutes. No public school building and no building used as a public school, as that term is defined under N.J.S.18A:1-1, shall be designated as an early voting location. The locations shall be designated at the same time as all other polling places are designated by the board of elections. In the event of a tie vote among members of the county board with respect to the selection of sites for early voting, the municipal clerk shall cast the deciding vote. Once early voting locations are designated in each municipality, county boards of election shall evaluate and, if deemed necessary, revise these locations in order to accommodate significant changes in the number of registered voters within each municipality, reflect the population distribution and density within each municipality, or because of similar circumstances. The Secretary of State may develop the criteria to be used by county boards of election to revise the location of early voting sites and shall prescribe how often such revision shall take place.

(1) Each county board shall be responsible for forming and executing a written plan to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, the integrity of the voting process and the security of ballots used during the early voting period, including the security of voting machines, voted ballots, and election records. The plan shall be based on guidelines established by the Secretary of State and shall be submitted thereto no later than December 15 of each year. The Secretary of State shall review and, if deemed necessary thereby, require changes to a plan no later than February 1 of each year. Each plan shall specify a chain of custody and security plan for the voting machines, and a chain of custody for the voted ballots and election records and materials, and shall require, among other specifications deemed necessary by the Secretary of State and county boards of election, that all voted ballots shall be transferred at the end of each early voting day to county boards of election for safekeeping. After the voted ballots are transferred to the county board of elections at the end of each early voting day, a county board may elect to impound those voted ballots on a secure server, or by any other means deemed appropriate by the Secretary of State. The voted ballots shall not be canvassed until the closing of the polls on election day as required pursuant to section 4 of this act, P.L. 2021 , c. 40 (C.19:15A-4). The results of the voted ballots cast during early voting shall remain confidential and shall be disclosed only in accordance with the provisions of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes, regulations, and guidelines concerning the disclosure of election results, and a violation shall be subject to the penalties established by law.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, in the year in which P.L. 2021 , c. 40 (C.19:15A-1 et al.) becomes law, each county board shall submit its plan to the Secretary of State within 30 days following the effective date of this act and the Secretary of State shall review it and, if deemed necessary thereby, require changes in the plan within 45 days following the effective date of this act.