A Senate panel on Thursday unanimously approved a bill that would reform how post-election audits are undertaken.
The Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism, & Historic Preservation Committee voted to pass state Sen. Andrew Zwicker’s (D-South Brunswick) bill through the committee. The legislation would allow post-election audits to be conducted with independent, third-party ballot machines in addition to a hand count.
Audits are currently conducted exclusively through hand counts, and Zwicker, the Senate bill’s sole sponsor, stated that the reform would enable more efficient auditing. The Democrat says reform to the system is further needed due to the increased embrace of early voting and vote-by-mail in the state’s elections.
“With the widespread adoption of early voting and vote-by-mail, we need a more flexible system capable of accurately and efficiently counting paper and electronic ballots,” Zwicker said in a release. “While necessary in the past, hand counting ballots is simply not the most effective way to audit our elections in the modern era. This legislation is an easy way to make the auditing process more secure and transparent.”
An identical bill in the Assembly is awaiting action in the State and Local Government Committee.
New Jersey law currently requires each county’s board of elections to audit at least 2% of that county’s election districts after an election. The legislation would not change that threshold.