TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey residents who want certain alcoholic beverages delivered to their homes must prove they are old enough to receive them, highlighting a striking contrast with the debate over identification requirements at the ballot box.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed S4384 into law Friday, permanently allowing eligible bars and restaurants to sell cocktails-to-go and permitting certain alcohol deliveries to consumers 21 and older. The bipartisan measure was sponsored by Democratic Sen. Vin Gopal, Republican Sen. Declan O’Scanlon and Democratic Assemblywomen Luanne Peterpaul and Rosaura “Rosy” Bagolie, with Assemblywoman Katie Brennan as a co-sponsor.
The law works alongside New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control rules governing third-party alcohol delivery. Those rules require delivery services to establish procedures that electronically verify a recipient’s identification, require face-to-face delivery and allow a delivery to be refused when there is reason to doubt the authenticity of a customer’s ID.
- New Jersey made cocktails-to-go and certain home alcohol deliveries permanent Friday.
- ABC rules require third-party delivery services to verify that recipients are legally old enough to receive alcohol, including electronic identification verification.
- New Jersey Democrats have separately warned that voting identification and citizenship-documentation requirements can disenfranchise eligible voters, particularly women and minority communities.
New Jersey Demands Age Verification at the Door
The new law makes permanent privileges that originated during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing eligible restaurants and bars to sell cocktails in closed, sealed and tamper-evident containers for off-premises consumption.
It also authorizes delivery by a licensee or licensed third-party delivery service directly to the residence of a New Jersey consumer who is at least 21. The final legislation passed the Senate 40-0 and Assembly 78-1 before being signed by Sherrill.
“Cocktails-to-go helped restaurants and bars keep business moving during the pandemic, and they have continued to be a convenient option for customers,” Gopal said after the bill was signed. He said the permanent law would maintain “commonsense safeguards” for alcohol sales and deliveries.
Under the ABC framework governing third-party alcohol deliveries, a delivery company must have a procedure for determining that the person accepting an order is of legal drinking age.
The state specifically calls for electronic verification of the customer’s identification along with verbal and observable verification. Delivery workers must interact face-to-face with customers, obtain their signatures and refuse deliveries when identification is questionable or other conditions are not satisfied.
In other words, home delivery does not eliminate the identification checkpoint. New Jersey permits the convenience of bringing alcohol to a resident’s front door while maintaining an identity and age-verification system intended to prevent underage drinking.
Democrats Make a Different Argument When Voting Rights Are at Stake
That public-safety rationale creates a political contrast with arguments New Jersey Democrats have made over voter identification and proof requirements.
Earlier this year, New Jersey Assembly Democrats promoted the John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act while criticizing federal proposals they said could make voting more difficult. In a February statement, Assembly Democrats specifically warned that proposed voting ID requirements “could disenfranchise eligible voters.”
The Legislature has also argued that election rules should be designed to ensure voters from racial, ethnic and language-minority groups have equitable access to registering and voting.
In a separate legislative resolution addressing federal election legislation, lawmakers warned that documentary requirements could disproportionately affect working parents, caregivers and elderly residents. The resolution also argued that documentation requirements could disenfranchise women whose current identification does not match names on birth records.
Sen. Shirley Turner made a similar argument when the Senate approved the John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act in July, saying proposals elsewhere could make voting harder “especially for women and communities of color.”
The competing policies raise a political question: If identification verification is considered a reasonable safeguard when the state regulates who may receive alcohol at home, when does requiring identification become an unacceptable barrier when government verifies eligibility for another regulated activity?
ID Requirement Raises Question About Access
The potential burden of obtaining identification does not necessarily disappear depending on what the identification is being used for.
New Jersey residents without driver’s licenses can obtain non-driver photo identification through the Motor Vehicle Commission. An initial non-driver ID requires an in-person visit to a Licensing Center, and the state currently charges $24 for renewal.
For residents in lower-income communities, including minority communities that voting-rights advocates frequently identify as particularly vulnerable to administrative barriers, transportation, documentation and other obstacles associated with obtaining identification can exist regardless of whether that ID is being presented to an election worker or an alcohol delivery driver.
Does New Jersey require identification for alcohol delivery?
Third-party alcohol delivery services must use procedures that verify recipients are legally old enough, including electronic identification verification as well as verbal and observable verification.
Have New Jersey Democrats said voter ID can disenfranchise voters?
Yes. New Jersey Assembly Democrats said in February that federal voting ID requirements could disenfranchise eligible voters, while other Democratic-backed voting-rights measures have emphasized protecting access for racial, ethnic and language-minority voters.
Sources: New Jersey Legislature bill text and legislative history for S4384 and A5225; New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control Third-Party Delivery Permit Special Ruling; New Jersey Senate Democrats; New Jersey Assembly Democrats; New Jersey legislative committee statements; New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission.
