TRENTON, N.J. – Just hours after a Republican activist published a recorded phone call he claims exposes a Democratic ballot-harvesting operation in Passaic County, a New Jersey lawmaker has introduced legislation to ban the type of recording that made it possible.
The move comes in response to a leaked recorded call that exposed an alleged ballot harvesting operation in North Jersey.
State Sen. Joseph Cryan, a Democrat representing Union County, introduced Bill S4739 on Monday, seeking to repeal New Jersey’s single-party consent law and make it illegal to record any phone call or conversation without the consent of all participants.
You can listen to that call here: Shocking Phone Call Exposes Possible Massive Ballot Harvesting Scandal in New Jersey
The timing of the proposal came the same day Republican Billy Prempeh released what he said was an undercover recording of a Democratic operative allegedly discussing illegal ballot collection activities. As of Monday night, the bill’s text had not yet been posted on the Legislature’s website.
Key Points
- Republican Billy Prempeh released an alleged recording of a ballot-harvesting conversation in Passaic County.
- Sen. Joseph Cryan introduced Bill S4739 shortly afterward, proposing to end single-party consent in New Jersey.
- The measure would make it unlawful to record any conversation without consent from all involved parties.
State law currently allows one-party consent recordings
Under current New Jersey law, a person may legally record a conversation or phone call as long as they are one of the participants. It is illegal, however, to record private conversations between others without involvement or in places where individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as bathrooms or bedrooms.
The proposed change would align New Jersey with so-called “two-party consent” states, where every participant must agree to be recorded.
A politically charged backdrop
Prempeh, who has previously run for Congress as a Republican in the state’s 9th District, posted the audio online Monday, alleging that it revealed evidence of coordinated ballot harvesting by local Democratic operatives. The claims have not been independently verified, and law enforcement has not yet commented on whether an investigation is underway.
Cryan’s bill would overturn decades of legal precedent in New Jersey’s recording statutes, potentially reshaping how journalists, activists, and private citizens document conversations. Democrats attempted a similar change in 2020, but that measure failed to advance beyond committee.
If enacted, the legislation would make New Jersey one of the strictest states in the nation regarding recording consent, introducing new penalties for anyone who records or publishes conversations without all parties’ approval.