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Secretary of State defends early‑voting rollout, SVRS upgrades and ERIC cross‑check before budget panel
Summary
Secretary of State/Lieutenant Governor told the Assembly Budget Committee that county data is needed for a full assessment of the new ballot design, described a planned ERIC cross‑check of voter rolls later this year, and said the state reimburses counties 100% for early‑voting expenses while expanding poll‑worker outreach and statewide ADA training.
The Secretary of State, who also serves as Lieutenant Governor and oversees elections, told the Assembly Budget Committee that the department is continuing work to stabilize voting operations and roll out system upgrades ahead of November.
“The integrity of our elections has been top of mind,” the Secretary said, summarizing years of work to expand registration, implement automatic voter registration and introduce online petition filing. She said county election officials must finish local assessments of the new ballot design before the department can publish a comprehensive report.
Committee members pressed the department on three near‑term priorities: poll‑worker recruitment and training, cross‑jurisdiction list‑matching (ERIC), and the statewide voter registration system (SVRS) changes that enable age‑based and school‑election participation.
On poll workers, the Secretary said recruitment efforts have improved since the worst pandemic shortages and highlighted youth outreach and on‑site events. Division of Elections director Donna told lawmakers, “For early voting, the state of New Jersey reimburses 100% for any expenses that are incurred by the county,” and described grants and online training the division makes available to county election offices.
Lawmakers raised the Burlington County report and litigation that have constrained immediate statewide changes. Donna said the division is coordinating with the Attorney General and county officials, and that the division will roll out statewide ADA training in July in partnership with Cornell to certify county election officials on accessibility practices.
On voter‑list maintenance and interstate matching, the Secretary said the ERIC cross‑state program (referred to in testimony as the ‘Eric’ system) should be in place after the primary and before the November general election to flag potential out‑of‑state duplicates and deceased registrants. She emphasized that daily list maintenance and any deletion/withdrawal of registrants remain county responsibilities, and encouraged constituents to contact their county commissioners of registration for case‑level matters.
The committee also reviewed the equipment certification process. The Secretary outlined a multi‑step review involving federal standards, an independent voting‑equipment committee and the division of elections before she signs a final certification—a process that can vary in length depending on reports requested and the time of year.
Next steps: the department said it will provide the committee with county assessment data on the ballot design as it becomes available, will complete ERIC rollout after post‑primary testing, and will continue funding support and training for counties ahead of the November election.
