New Jersey Senate Republicans are proposing new statewide standards for securing vote-by-mail (VBM) ballots, while also calling for federal oversight of the vote-by-mail process in Passaic County ahead of the November 4 general election.

Senate Republican Leader Anthony M. Bucco and Senator Kristin Corrado have introduced legislation that would create uniform security procedures for mail-in ballot handling across all counties.

The sponsors say the measure is designed to enhance transparency, strengthen bipartisan oversight, and promote voter confidence following reports of inconsistencies in how some county election boards manage mail-in ballots.

“Public confidence in our elections depends on consistency and transparency,” Bucco said in a statement. “This legislation provides clear, enforceable standards for safeguarding vote-by-mail ballots across every county.”

Corrado added that the proposal aims to ensure equal treatment for voters statewide. “When voters know that their ballot is protected under a clear set of rules applied equally in every county, they can trust that their voice will be counted fairly and accurately,” she said.

Under the bill, county election boards would be required to store vote-by-mail ballots in secure, monitored facilities between review and canvassing. Each storage area would need at least one of the following safeguards:

A dual-lock system requiring one key from each major political party;

Video surveillance covering entrances to ballot storage areas; or

A paper or electronic access log recording all entries.

The legislation would also increase penalties for unauthorized access to ballot storage areas and require that only bipartisan teams of election officials handle secured ballots.

The legislation comes as the New Jersey Republican State Committee has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to send federal monitors to Passaic County to oversee the processing of mail-in ballots.

In a letter to Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, who heads the Department’s Civil Rights Division, they cited what he described as a history of vote-by-mail fraud cases in Passaic County.

The letter asks that the Department “dispatch monitors to the Passaic County Board of Elections to oversee the receipt and processing of vote-by-mail ballots” and to “take steps to monitor access to the Board of Elections around the clock.”

In 2020, then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal launched an investigation into voter fraud involving multiple Paterson City Council members. Paterson is Passaic County’s largest municipality.