N.J. Admin. Code § Executive Order No. 179 (2020)
Governor Philip D. Murphy
Executive Order No. 179 (2020)
An Order to Make Modifications to this Year's Primarily Vote-By-Mail (VBM) General Election
Issued: August 25, 2020.
Effective: August 25, 2020.
WHEREAS, in light of the dangers posed by Coronavirus disease 2019 ("COVID-19"), I issued Executive Order No. 103 on March 9, 2020, the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, which declared both a Public Health Emergency and State of Emergency; and
WHEREAS, through Executive Order Nos. 119, 138, 151, 162, and 171 issued on April 7, 2020, May 6, 2020, June 4, 2020, July 2, 2020, and August 1, 2020, respectively, the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, I declared that the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency continued to exist and declared that all Executive Orders and Administrative Orders adopted in whole or in part in response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency remained in full force and effect; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with N.J.S.A. App. A:9-34 and -51, I reserve the right to utilize and employ all available resources of State government to protect against the emergency created by COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, as COVID-19 continued to spread across New Jersey and an increasing number of individuals required medical care or hospitalization, I issued a series of Executive Orders pursuant to my authority under the New Jersey Civilian Defense and Disaster Control Act, N.J. S.A. App. A:9-33 et seq. and the Emergency Health Powers Act, N.J.S.A. 26:13-1 et seq., to protect the public health, safety, and welfare against the emergency created by COVID-19, including Executive Order Nos. 104-133, Nos. 135-138, Nos. 140-166, Nos. 168-173, and No. 175, and Nos. 177-178 (2020), the facts and circumstances of which are all adopted by reference herein; and
WHEREAS, as of August 24, 2020, according to the World Health Organization, there were over 23,311,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with over 806,000 of those cases having resulted in death; and
WHEREAS, as of August 24, 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were over 5,682,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, with over 176,000 of those cases having resulted in death; and
WHEREAS, as of August 24, 2020, there were over 189,000 positive cases of COVID-19 in New Jersey, with at least 14,120 of those cases having resulted in death; and
WHEREAS, there have been positive cases of COVID-19 in every county in New Jersey, and there have been deaths relating to COVID-19 in every county in New Jersey; and
WHEREAS, on March 19, 2020, I issued Executive Order No. 105, which declared that certain elections set to take place in March and April were postponed until May 12, 2020, because allowing those elections to proceed as they were originally planned during this unprecedented COVID-19 health crisis would create hardships and health risks for voters, poll workers, and candidates alike; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Executive Order No. 120 (2020), the primary election set to take place on June 2, 2020, was postponed until July 7, 2020 ("July Primary Election"), because preparing for the election to take place in June during the potential height of the COVID-19 emergency would have negatively impacted election officials' preparation efforts; and
WHEREAS, on May 15, 2020, I issued Executive Order No. 144, which declared that the July Primary Election would be conducted primarily via vote-by-mail ballots with a minimum number of polling places open in each municipality; and
WHEREAS, I issued Executive Order No. 164 (2020), which postponed any election scheduled between July 7, 2020 and November 3, 2020, until November 3, 2020, and declared that no other elections may be held or proceed prior to November 3, 2020; and
WHEREAS, to accommodate the increase in vote-by-mail ballots, Executive Order No. 144 (2020) extended the time that ballots must be received by five (5) days, provided that such ballots must be postmarked by July 7, 2020, and received by July 14, 2020, in order to be counted; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 144 (2020) extended the deadline to certify election results under N.J.S.A. 19:23-55 by five (5) days in order to account for the revised timeframe that Boards of Elections had to receive vote-by-mail ballots, thereby extending the certification deadline to July 24, 2020; and
WHEREAS, even as the rate of reported new cases of COVID-19 decreased, the ongoing risks presented by COVID-19 have meant that many of the State's current measures must remain in place, both to reduce additional new infections and to save lives; and
WHEREAS, the COVID-19 emergency and its impact are likely to extend for an as-yet-undetermined period of time; and
WHEREAS, the COVID-19 emergency makes it difficult for election officials, candidates, and voters to properly plan and prepare for and fully participate in the general election on November 3, 2020 ("November General Election") if it was to proceed as it would under normal circumstances; and
WHEREAS, States generally have discretion to dictate the time, manner, and place of elections in the absence of controlling federal law; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to 3 U.S.C. § 1, the presidential election shall be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, which is November 3, 2020; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to 3 U.S.C. § 7 and N.J.S.A. 19:36-1, the State's electors for President and Vice President must meet and vote on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which is December 14, 2020; and
WHEREAS, the results of the November General Election must be certified in advance of the federal deadline for the meeting of electors; and
WHEREAS, although the dates for the November General Election and the meeting of electors are established by federal law and cannot be changed, allowing the November General Election to proceed as it would under normal circumstances during this unprecedented COVID-19 health crisis will create hardships and health risks for voters, poll workers, and candidates alike; and
WHEREAS, the county Boards of Elections had difficulty retaining poll workers for the July Primary Election due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are likely to face the same issue for the November General Election so long as the health crisis exists; and
WHEREAS, election officials require flexibility and sufficient lead time to adapt their locality's voting infrastructure to confront the magnitude of the public health and safety risks of the COVID-19 pandemic; and
WHEREAS, failing to take proactive actions to mitigate the adverse impacts of the current health crisis on the upcoming November General Election carries the risk of disenfranchising citizens; and
WHEREAS, social distancing measures are required for a period of as-yet-undetermined duration, and the COVID-19 outbreak may have significant effects on New Jersey's voting systems as long as social distancing measures are in place and for some time thereafter; and
WHEREAS, failing to offer voters a ready alternative to reporting to public polling locations to vote in the upcoming November General Election in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis will hinder public participation in the democratic process, particularly among elderly and immune-compromised voters, and undermine the legislative intent of provisions such as N.J.S.A. 19:8-2 and 19:8-3.1, which are designed to ensure that such voters can exercise their right to vote; and
WHEREAS, the United States Post Office has advised that voters must use First-Class postage to return their ballots to the county Boards of Elections so that it will be delivered 2-5 days after it is received by the Postal Service, and recent reports have indicated that mail is taking longer for delivery than is typical; and
WHEREAS, in July, the United States Post Office sent letters to the county Boards of Elections advising that mail-in ballots were in the mail stream on or before the July Primary Election, notwithstanding the [page=1711] postmark on the ballots and that the ballots were delivered to the county Boards of Elections the day after the July Primary Election; and
WHEREAS, the United States Post Office has advised that international mail service has been suspended to and from sixty-seven (67) destinations, see http://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/international/welcome.htm, for further details; and
WHEREAS, on August 14, 2020, I issued Executive Order No. 177, the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, which established the voting procedures for the November General Election; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 177 (2020) requires modification as set forth below to ensure enough time to complete preparations for the November General Election, to minimize voter confusion, to ensure voters have a process by which they may cure a ballot with a signature deficiency, and to ensure timely counting of the November General Election ballots; and
WHEREAS, the Constitution and statutes of the State of New Jersey, particularly the provisions of N.J.S.A. 26:13-1et seq., N.J.S.A. App. A: 9-33 et seq., N.J.S.A. 38A:3-6.1, and N.J.S.A. 38A:2-4 and all amendments and supplements thereto, confer upon the Governor of the State of New Jersey certain emergency powers, which I have invoked;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, PHILIP D. MURPHY, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:
N.J. Admin. Code Executive Order No. 179 (2020)