In an effort to secure elections and voting in New Jersey, three bills sponsored by Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo and Assemblyman Roy Freiman were advanced by the Assembly State and Local Government Committee on Thursday.
The first bill (A-3991) sponsored by Assemblyman Mazzeo establishes the “New Jersey Elections Security Act,” which would allow New Jersey to transition to a paper ballot voting system.
“New Jersey is only one of a handful of states that uses voting machines and does not provide a paper record, which makes it difficult to detect hacking,” said Mazzeo (D-Atlantic). Since it is evident in the current climate we live in that no federal action will be taken to protect our voters, we must take it upon ourselves to preserve democracy by ensuring safety for voters and allowing them to fairly have a say in their representatives.”
The second bill (A-4409) sponsored by Assemblyman Freiman and Assemblyman Mazzeo, would allocate a larger portion of the federal funds New Jersey receives under the “Help America Vote Act of 2002” (HAVA) to be used to replace current voting machines with a voting system that provides a paper record of each vote.
Finally, a resolution (AR-194) also sponsored by Mazzeo and Freiman urges the United States Congress to appropriate additional federal funds to New Jersey for election security and voting equipment purposes.
“As a New Jerseyan, and an American, I understand how important it is to vote – especially in elections that are safe, fair, and secure,” said Freiman (D-Somerset/Mercer/Middlesex/Hunterdon). “The U.S. election system has been subject to attack by foreign interests who wanted to tamper or sway the outcome of the vote.”
“We have been diligent in meeting with all parties involved from stakeholders, the county, and the governor’s office while making changes and compromising on these measures,” said Mazzeo. “This is the best way to give counties guidance and a blueprint to work off of so they end up making the best decision possible to protect democracy as we continue to fight for more funding at the federal level.”