A New Jersey lawmaker has introduced a bill that will require the State to provide the capability to vote in person to all voters in all elections. This bill is one in a set of bills introduced by Republican Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger to protect election integrity in New Jersey.

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In 2020 Scharfenberger also introduced a bill requiring voters to present proof of identity when voting and a bill to purge ineligible voters from voter rolls. Scharfenberger plans to introduce in a few days a new bill requiring the New Jersey government to establish a hotline for reporting election fraud. . . .

Voting in Person

The bill requiring that all elections in New Jersey provide voters with the capability to vote in person at polling places was introduced by Scharfenberger in February. The measure also prohibits the governor from restricting the right to vote in person without the New Jersey legislature’s approval while preserving voter’s right to choose to vote by mail.

“The Legislature has been wrongfully cut-out from having any real say in these decisions—that cannot continue any longer,” Scharfenberger said in a statement, referring to Democrat Governor Phil Murphy’s Executive Order taking away the ability to vote in person in the 2020 election on the grounds of limiting the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. . . .

“My office was inundated with calls and emails and texts from people who were very upset that they could not go to the polls … they [felt] that they were disenfranchised,” Scharfenberger told The Epoch Time in an interview on March 5. He said that among constituents who called him were people of all political persuasions. . . .

“The arguments that they made were very compelling, … they would go into a Home Depot or Lowe’s, and there would be massive crowds, yet they were prohibited from going to a polling station where they would go one at a time into a booth,” Scharfenberger said.

COVID-19 safety precautions such as wearing masks, using disinfectants, and spacing people out could have been easily applied at polling stations, Scharfenberger said, similar to how they were applied in stores or on public transportation.

Initially in New Jersey, anybody could request a vote by mail-in ballot and that system worked well, Scharfenberger said, but a year or two before the pandemic, the New Jersey State administration began to send vote-by-mail ballots to all who had requested it anytime in the past. That upset and confused people who usually vote in person but voted by mail occasionally due to being away or other reasons, Scharfenberger said.

In the November 2020 election, when mail ballots were sent to all voters, there were many erroneous ballots sent, Scharfenberger said. . . .

Voter ID at Polling Places

Another bill introduced by Scharfenberger together with Republican Assemblyman Kevin Rooney requires registered voters to present identification when voting at a polling place. The bill lists 12 types of acceptable IDs such as a New Jersey driver’s license, U.S. passport, employment ID, birth certificate, or student ID.

The measure, introduced in June 2020, does not exclude voters who do not possess any of the 12 identification types from voting. They can still provide two pieces of “supplemental identification” like a proof of residence, a utility bill, a mortgage, or rental statement.

If they are unable to provide even any supplemental identification they may be challenged, but the legislation still gives challenged voters an opportunity to establish their right to vote before their district’s board of elections. . . .

Voters should be able to show some form of ID to prove who they are, Scharfenberger said. “The public would want this and understands why it’s important. It’s just another layer of safeguarding the honesty and integrity of the elections.”

Cleansing the Voter Rolls

Scharfenberger in December also introduced a bill to cleanse the voter rolls of ineligible voters. The bill requires state authorities to establish in New Jersey “a voter list maintenance and crosscheck program” in order to keep voter lists accurate and up-to-date.

Under the program, a new statewide secure voter registration system would be established and maintained, according to the bill. The new system should provide the capability to verify information about newly registered voters and remove duplicates, non-resident, deceased, or ineligible voters from the voter rolls. . . .

Therefore Scharfenberger proposed the use of computer software called Crosscheck, which scans all the voter rolls, and identifies ineligible voters whose names should be removed, using social security numbers or other information. The system findings can be verified by reaching out to people picked up by the system, Scharfenberger said.

Such a system would resolve issues where people have two names because they got married or divorced, he added. “At least you know that the rolls would be accurate and you can feel confident that whoever is on those voter rolls are legitimate voters,” he added.

Voter Fraud Hotline

Scharfenberger plans to introduce a new bill soon that will require the New Jersey government to establish a hotline for reporting voter fraud. He said it’s important that people who got a hold of a deceased person’s ballot or are aware of other irregularities have an avenue to report on these events. “It’s just another tool to be able to keep fraud to a minimum,” he said. . . .

Several Democrats were receptive to ideas presented in these election integrity-related bills, Scharfenberger said. “I’m going to appeal to their sense of fair play, that we really all benefit—both parties—from honest, accurate elections.”

“This is the most basic component of choosing a leadership so the other issues can be debated and addressed. … This is the most basic, basic right—we have to be able to choose our leaders and who we want to represent us. And I think every patriotic American citizen could live with the results of any election as long as they’re confident that it was fair enough,” Scharfenberger said.

“I think these bills will legitimize elections from now on.” . . .

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(Excerpt from The Epoch Times. Article by ELLA KIETLINSKA. Photo Credit: Getty Images.)