New Jersey A 4934: Provides for qualified voters who are incarcerated to receive mail-in ballots.

Bill Text

A4934 

ASSEMBLY, No. 4934 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

� 

INTRODUCED MAY 7, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman� KENYATTA STEWART

District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)

SYNOPSIS

���� Provides for qualified voters who are incarcerated to 
receive mail-in ballots. 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT 

���� As introduced.

�� 

An Act concerning the provision of mail-in ballots to qualified 
voters who are incarcerated and supplementing P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-1 et 
seq.).

���� Be It 
Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of 
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� a.� The Secretary of 
State, in coordination with the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections, shall 
provide to qualified voters who are detained or incarcerated for reasons other 
than a conviction for an indictable offense an application for a mail-in ballot.� 
The application shall enable the voter to request to vote by mail-in ballot and 
to provide the address where the voter is detained or incarcerated as a 
secondary address to which the ballot shall be sent in accordance with section 
3 of P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-3). 

���� b.��� Except as otherwise 
provided by this section, an application for a mail-in ballot submitted 
pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be treated as any other 
application submitted pursuant to P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-1 et seq.), and the voter 
submitting the application shall receive and return their mail-in ballot as 
provided by P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-1 et seq.).

���� c.���� If a voter who requests 
to vote by mail-in ballot pursuant to subsection a. of this section is 
subsequently transferred to another location, then the Department of 
Corrections shall ensure the delivery of the mail-in ballot to the voter; 
provided, however, that such act shall not result in the department or any 
employee thereof being considered a messenger or bearer within the meaning of 
P.L.2009, c.79 (C.19:63-1 et seq.).� 

���� d.��� Nothing in this section 
shall be construed to confer the right to vote to persons incarcerated as the 
result of a conviction for an indictable offense or otherwise disqualified from 
voting in this State.� If a person is convicted of an indictable offense after 
having completed an application for a mail-in ballot pursuant to subsection a. 
of this section, any ballot sent to or received from the person shall be deemed 
void and shall not be counted.

���� 2.��� This act shall take 
effect January 1 next following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

���� This bill provides for qualified 
voters who are detained or incarcerated to apply for and receive mail-in 
ballots.

���� Under current law, persons who 
are incarcerated as a result of a conviction for an indictable offense, or 
felonies, are ineligible to vote.� This bill does not change that.� However, 
certain persons may be incarcerated for nonindictable offenses or detained 
pending trial, in which case the person retains the right to vote but requires 
access to a mail-in ballot from the location at which they are detained or 
incarcerated to exercise that right.

���� This bill requires that the Secretary 
of State, in coordination with the Commissioner of the Department of 
Corrections, provides an application for a mail-in ballot to qualified voters 
detained or incarcerated for reasons other than a conviction for an indictable 
offense.� The application will enable the voter to request to vote by mail-in 
ballot and to provide the address where the voter is detained or incarcerated 
as a secondary address to which the ballot can be sent.� If a voter who 
requests to vote by mail-in ballot pursuant to this bill is subsequently 
transferred to another location, then the Department of Corrections will ensure 
the delivery of the mail-in ballot to the voter.