N.J. Stat. tit. 19, ch. 19

N.J. Stat. tit. 19, ch. 19
in effect

N.J. Stat. § 19:19-1 Meeting of board of county canvassers.

19:19-1. The board of county canvassers of each county shall meet on the 15th day, after any such election, at 12 o'clock noon, at the courthouse of the county, for the purpose of checking the canvass which shall have been made by the county clerk from the statements of the district boards filed in his office as hereinbefore provided. For such purpose the county clerk shall have prepared a compilation in tabulated form of such statements and the combined results shown thereby for the use of the board of canvassers. amended 1959, c.117; 2018, c.72, s.10; 2020, c.71, s.3; 2023, c.124, s.4.

N.J. Stat. § 19:19-2 Absence of county clerk; substitute

If the clerk of the county shall be absent from the meeting at the time appointed therefor, the board shall forthwith proceed to appoint a fit person to be its clerk, who shall obtain such statements from the office of such clerk.

N.J. Stat. § 19:19-3 Oath of substitute clerk

Before proceeding to canvass and estimate the votes the chairman of the board shall administer to the person appointed as clerk in the absence of the county clerk an oath or affirmation in the following form: "You do swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that you will faithfully execute the duties of the clerk of this board according to law."

N.J. Stat. § 19:19-4 Adjournment of meeting

If on the day appointed for the meeting of such board, a major part thereof shall not attend at the courthouse of the county at the hour of twelve o'clock noon, or if at that time the statements of the result of such election from every election district in the county shall not be produced, the members of the board present shall adjourn to some convenient hour on the next day.

N.J. Stat. § 19:19-5 Statements obtained

If such adjournment is occasioned by the fact that at the time fixed for the meeting of the board the statements from every election district have not been filed with the clerk of the county, such clerk shall forthwith, by a special messenger, or otherwise, at the expense of the county, obtain the statement or statements that shall be lacking, in time to be produced to the board at its next meeting, and for this purpose the statements directed to be filed with the clerk of any municipality wherein such election was held, or those directed to be filed with the county clerk, or a copy certified by the secretary of state of the statements transmitted to him, shall be sufficient. The clerk of the board shall lay before it, at its subsequent meeting, all the statements and certified copies that he shall have obtained as above directed.

N.J. Stat. § 19:19-6 Second adjournment of meeting

At the hour to which such adjournment shall have been ordered, the member or members present may proceed as hereinafter directed, or may again adjourn for a period not exceeding three days, at which time the member or members present shall so proceed. The board is hereby authorized to reconvene at any time for the purpose of correcting any errors.

N.J. Stat. § 19:19-7 Custody of statements during adjournment

When such board shall find it necessary to adjourn, as herein provided, all statements of the result of an election which shall have been delivered to it or to any member thereof, shall in the presence of the board, and before it shall adjourn, be securely inclosed and sealed and delivered to the county clerk for safe-keeping until the next meeting of the board.

N.J. Stat. § 19:19-8 Canvass and statement of result of election

The members of the board shall proceed to examine the statements and copies of statements produced before them and shall canvass and determine the votes cast at such election; and shall forthwith make four statements of the result of such election; but if no officers were voted for or public questions were voted upon at the election by the voters of the entire State or of more than one county thereof or of a congressional district, one statement shall be sufficient. Amended by L.1938, c. 399, p. 988, s. 1.

N.J. Stat. § 19:19-9 Contents of statement of canvass; certification

Each of such statements shall contain the name of each election district, the number of names on the signature copy register or the register of voters, the number of names of the voters on the poll books of each election district, and of the ballots rejected, and the whole number of such names registered and rejected ballots in all of such election districts; the number of votes cast in each election district for each person for whom any vote or votes shall have been cast for any office to be filled or any public question to be voted upon at the election, mentioning the office for which each person shall have been designated and the name of such person (which numbers of names and numbers of votes cast, and of ballots rejected, may be in figures), and the whole number of votes which shall have been given for each person for any such office, mentioning the office for which each person shall have been designated, and the name of the person (which numbers of votes and the names of persons and election districts shall be in words, written at full length). There shall also be specified in the statements each public question voted upon at the election and the votes cast thereupon. Each of the statements shall be certified to be true and correct by a certificate which shall be appended to the same, signed by the members of the board making the canvass.

N.J. Stat. § 19:19-10 Form of statement of canvass

The statements shall be in substantially the following form: "A statement of the result of election held in the county of , on the day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and , to elect a member of the senate, members of the general assembly, a sheriff and coroners of said county (naming the officers as the case may be), together with the public questions voted upon, made by the board of county canvassers of said county."

N.J. Stat. § 19:19-11 Form of certificate to statement of canvass

The certificate shall be in substantially the following form: "I do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true, full and correct statement of the result of the election above-mentioned, as the same is exhibited by the statements produced and laid before the board of county canvassers according to law, and that the same exhibits the number of the names in the signature copy registers and the registers of voters, the number of names of the voters in the poll books of the election districts, respectively, and of the ballots rejected, the whole number of the names in the signature copy registers and the registers of voters, the whole number of names of the voters in the poll books of the several election districts, the name of each person for whom any vote or votes were cast, the number of votes cast for each person in each election district, and the whole number of votes cast for each person for each office designated, and also specifies each public question voted upon and the number of votes cast thereupon in each election district respectively, and the whole number of votes cast thereupon in the several election districts as they appear by the statements so produced and laid before the said board. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this day of , in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and Chairman of the board of county canvassers. Attest: , Clerk."

N.J. Stat. § 19:19-12 Statements to county clerk and chairmen of Republican and Democratic State Committees

The board shall deliver one of the statements to the clerk of the county, who shall forthwith file the same, and one statement to the respective chairmen of the Republican and Democratic State Committees. Amended by L.1938, c. 399, p. 989, s. 2.

N.J. Stat. § 19:19-13 Other statement delivered to secretary of state

The clerk of the board shall inclose and seal up the other statement and deliver or safely transmit the same so inclosed and sealed up, to the secretary of state at Trenton, so that he shall receive the same within three days next after the meeting of the board, and he shall forthwith file the same.

N.J. Stat. § 19:19-14 Statements of results by district boards preserved

All the statements made by the district boards and copies of such statements which shall be produced and laid before the board shall, by it be delivered to the clerk of the county, and shall be filed and preserved by him in his office for a period of five years.

N.J. Stat. § 19:19-15 Secretary of state to procure missing statements

If the secretary of state shall not, on or before the seventh day after the time appointed for the meeting of the board of canvassers in the several counties, have received the statements of the result of such election in every county hereinbefore directed to be delivered or transmitted to him by the clerk of the board, such secretary shall forthwith, by a special messenger or otherwise, obtain the statement or statements as are lacking; and for this purpose a copy of the statement directed to be filed with the clerk of the county, certified by such clerk, shall be sufficient.

N.J. Stat. § 19:19-16 Defective statements completed by secretary of state

When and as soon as such secretary shall receive or obtain any statement of the result of such election, in any county, in the manner hereinbefore provided for, he shall ascertain whether or not the statement includes the statement of the results of the election in every election district of the county; and if it appears to him that the statement of the result of election in any election district is not exhibited by or included in the statement of the result of the election in the county, he shall forthwith ascertain whether or not a copy of the lacking statement has been received in his office; and if it appears to him that such copy has not been so received, he shall forthwith, by special messenger or otherwise, obtain a copy of the statement directed to be filed with the clerk of the county, or with the clerk of any municipality within the county, certified by such clerk, which shall be sufficient.

N.J. Stat. § 19:19-17 Statements delivered to messenger of secretary of state

The district board, the clerk or the chairman of the board of canvassers of any county, or any other person who shall be in possession of any statement, or copy of any statement, which shall have been made and subscribed under the provisions of this title, shall forthwith, on application by any messenger who shall have been dispatched for the same by the secretary of state, deliver to the messenger such statement or copy. The messenger shall be commissioned as such in writing, under the hand and official seal of the secretary of state, and shall exhibit his commission to the person to whom he shall apply for such statement or copy; and when he shall have obtained the statement or copy he shall forthwith deliver the same to the secretary of state.
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