TRENTON, N.J. — A Republican-backed bill requiring voters to present photo identification before casting ballots was blocked Monday in the Democrat-controlled New Jersey Assembly, sending the measure back to committee without a vote.
Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia (R-Sussex) introduced the bill (A4248) in May 2024, arguing that the Legislature has a responsibility to act on proposals supported by a majority of voters. The bill mandates that all voters show a state or federal photo ID when voting in person or by mail.
“When there is a bill of this nature before us, as a Legislature, it is our duty to put it up for a vote when it is asked for by our constituents,” Fantasia said from the Assembly floor. “Anyone opposed is absolutely free to side with that 20% and vote it down, but it does deserve to be heard.”
A Monmouth University poll cited by Fantasia showed that more than 80% of Americans support voter ID laws, including 62% of Democrats. Despite this, the bill has remained in the Assembly State and Local Government Committee since its introduction.
Currently, New Jersey only requires identification from first-time voters who could not verify their identity when registering. For all others, voter identity is confirmed by signature comparison at the polls.
On Monday, Committee Chair Robert Karabinchak (D-Middlesex) moved to table the bill, and 43 Democrats voted in favor of the motion, halting further action.
Fantasia criticized the decision, saying, “It is time to restore voter confidence as it’s the cornerstone of free and fair elections, but Democrats in Trenton continue to delay action on any issue that might hurt their chances come November.”
The bill remains stalled with four months left before the upcoming state elections.\
About the bill:
This bill would require voters to present certain documentation as proof of voter identity to vote, beginning with the first election held after January 1, 2016. A voter, whether voting in person or through mail-in ballot, would be required to show or submit a copy of a New Jersey’s driver’s license, New Jersey nondriver’s identification card, or other document, that includes all of the following criteria: (1) the name of the voter to whom the document was issued; (2) a photograph of the voter to whom the document was issued; (3) an expiration date, showing that the document is not expired or expired only after the date of the most recent election; and (4) was issued by the federal government or this State.
For first-time voters, this documentation would be required in addition to the production of any document necessary to fulfill the proof of identity requirement mandated by the federal “Help America Vote Act of 2002,” if that first-time voter had registered to vote by mail without submitting federally-acceptable identity verification with the registration. However, a first-time voter in this situation would be required to present only one document with respect to both identification requirements, if that document is able to satisfy the document criteria as applicable to each requirement.
The requirement for verifying voter identity through additional documentation would not apply to any voter entitled to vote by mail-in ballot under the federal “Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act,” or provided the right to vote otherwise than in person under the federal “Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act,” or any other federal law. Additionally, because the bill’s verification of identity requires the production of a document containing a photograph of the voter, it incorporates an exemption from the production of such document if the voter has a religious objection to being photographed, and this is established by a sworn affidavit from the voter.
In order to administer the bill’s new voter verification requirement, the bill updates the statutory provisions governing election day challenges to a person’s right to vote by district board members or other authorized challengers, as appointed pursuant to Chapter 7 of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes. With respect to any voter who is denied the right to vote for failing to display acceptable documentation, that voter would be provided a provisional ballot. In order for that ballot to be officially counted in an election, the voter would need to produce the required documentation by the close of business on the second day after the election to the applicable county commissioner of registration.
Finally, to ensure that no one is denied the right to vote based solely on an inability to pay for a government-issued document with photograph as required under the bill for identity verification, the Motor Vehicle Commission would issue a nondriver identification card without cost to any voter requiring such document upon execution of an affidavit of indigence.