{"data":{"id":"us-nj/n.j.-stat.-19-4a-13","jurisdiction":"us-nj","citation":"N.J. Stat. § 19:4A-13","heading":"Covered policy subject to preclearance, Attorney General.","body":"13. a. To ensure that the right to vote is not denied or abridged on account of membership in a protected class, the enactment or implementation of a covered policy by a covered entity, as defined in this section, shall be subject to preclearance by the Attorney General as set forth in this section.\nb.\tA “covered policy” shall include any new or modified voting qualification, prerequisite to voting, law, ordinance, standard, practice, procedure, regulation, or policy concerning any of the following topics:\n(1)  method of election;\n(2)  annexation or de-annexation of a political subdivision;\n(3)  incorporation of a political subdivision;\n(4)  consolidation or division of political subdivisions;\n(5)  the methodology for engaging in list maintenance activities or for identifying voters for removal from the Statewide voter registration system;\n(6)  number, location, or hours of any election day or early voting poll site;\n(7)  dates of elections and the election calendar, except with respect to special elections;\n(8)  registration of voters;\n(9)  assignment of election districts to election day or early voting polling sites;\n(10)  location of ballot drop boxes;\n(11)  assistance offered to members of a language-minority group, as listed in paragraph (1) of subsection a. of section 12 of this act, P.L.2026, c.31 (C.19:4A-12);\n(12)  districting or redistricting; and\n(13)  any additional topics designated by the Attorney General, which shall be designated pursuant to a rule promulgated by the Attorney General in accordance with the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), upon a determination by the Attorney General that a new or modified voting qualification, prerequisite to voting, law, ordinance, standard, practice, procedure, regulation, or policy concerning such topics may have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of membership in a protected class.\nc.\tA “covered entity” shall include:\n(1)  any political subdivision that, within the prior 15 years, has been subject to any court order, government enforcement action, final determination of the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, court-approved consent decree, or any other settlement in which the political subdivision conceded liability, based upon a claim alleging discrimination against members of a protected class, in violation of the provisions of this act, the right to vote under the New Jersey Constitution, the federal Voting Rights Act, the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, a voting-related violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, or any violation of any other state or federal election law, except that no political subdivision shall be considered a covered entity within the meaning of this paragraph on the basis of any court order, government enforcement action, final determination of the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, court-approved consent decree, or other settlement occurring prior to the effective date of this section;\n(2)  any political subdivision that, within the prior 15 years, has been subject to any court order, final determination of the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, court-approved consent decree, or any other settlement in which the political subdivision conceded liability, based upon a claim alleging a pattern, practice, or policy of discrimination against members of a protected class, in violation of any state or federal civil rights law, Article I, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, or the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, except that no political subdivision shall be considered a covered entity within the meaning of this paragraph on the basis of any court order, final determination of the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, court-approved consent decree, or other settlement occurring prior to the effective date of this section;\n(3)  any county that (a) contains at least 20,000 eligible voters of any one protected class, or in which members of any one protected class constitute at least 10 percent of the eligible voter population of the county; and (b) in which, in any year in the prior 10 years, the arrest rate among members of such protected class is more than five times the arrest rate among the population of the county as a whole, or exceeds the arrest rate among the population of the county as a whole by at least 20 percentage points;\n(4)  any political subdivision that (a) contains at least 1,000 eligible voters of any one protected class, or in which members of any one protected class constitute at least 10 percent of the eligible voter population of a political subdivision; and (b) in which, in any year in the prior 10 years, the percentage of voters of  that one protected class in the political subdivision that participated in any general election for any political subdivision office is at least 10 percentage points lower than the percentage of all voters in the political subdivision that participated in such election;\n(5)  any political subdivision that, at any point during the prior three years, has failed to reasonably comply with that political subdivision’s obligations to provide data or information to the Division of Elections pursuant to section 19 of this act, P.L.2026, c.31 (C.19:4A-19); or\n(6)  any political subdivision that, during the prior eight years, was found to have enacted or implemented a covered policy without obtaining preclearance for such covered policy when required pursuant to this section.\nd.  At least biannually, the Attorney General shall determine which political subdivisions are covered entities pursuant to subsection c. of this section. A list of such covered entities shall be published on the Attorney General’s website pursuant to subsection d. of section 14 of this act, P.L.2026, c.31 (C.19:4A-14). A determination of coverage shall be effective upon such publication and may be appealed as a final agency determination.\ne.\tFollowing each federal decennial census, if a covered entity maintains an at-large method of election, the at-large method of election  shall be deemed a “covered policy” and shall be submitted to the Attorney General pursuant to section 14 of this act, P.L.2026, c.31 (C.19:4A-14).  The Attorney General shall promulgate, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), the necessary rules and regulations to effectuate the provisions of this subsection.\nL.2026, c.31, s.13.","path":["TITLE 19 ELECTIONS"],"source_url":"https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/statutes/STATUTES-TEXT.zip","current_through":"P.L.2026, c.50, and J.R.1","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-10-18T02:17:40Z","sha256":"2f1d53840de9a49b1ce3d059dc8e82008b31c7324ae9c37a65e5676124c23b78","source_id":"us-nj","stale":false,"prev":"us-nj/n.j.-stat.-19-4a-12","next":"us-nj/n.j.-stat.-19-4a-14"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}