19:60-9 Ballot, form, contents.

9. The ballot for a school election shall be a single or blanket form of ballot, upon which shall be printed in bold-faced type the words "OFFICIAL SCHOOL ELECTION BALLOT" or "OFFICIAL SPECIAL SCHOOL ELECTION BALLOT," as appropriate.

Any public question which is to be submitted to the voters at a school election shall be printed in a separate space below or to the right of, as the county clerk shall determine, the listing of candidates in the election.

In the columns in which are listed the titles of the offices to be filled at a school election and the names of candidates for those offices, the title of and the names of candidates for the office of member of the regional board of education shall appear above the title of and the names of candidates for the office of member of the local board of education. With respect to either office, in the event that one or more persons are to be elected to membership thereon for a full term and one or more persons are to be elected to membership thereon to fill an unexpired term, the ballots shall designate which of the candidates to be voted for is to be elected for a full term and which for an unexpired term. In all cases in which one or more persons are to be elected for an unexpired term, the ballots shall indicate the duration of that unexpired term.

The names of two or more candidates for any given term who have notified the secretary of the board, or the county clerk if the annual school election is to be held in November, in writing that they wish to be bracketed together with their chosen designation, if any, shall appear as a group in the appropriate location on the ballot, depending on whether the candidates are to be elected to fill an expired or an unexpired term.

All public questions to be voted upon at a school election by the voters of more than one municipality shall be placed first before any question to be voted upon at that election by the voters of a single municipality. When the public question to be voted upon by the voters of a regional school district is the amount of money to be raised for the use of the regional schools of the district, the amount of money determined to be the constituent municipality's share thereof may be identified on the ballot pursuant to N.J.S.18A:13-17.

Every county clerk shall have ready for the printer a copy of the contents of official ballots required by law to be printed for use at a school election, as follows: in the case of the annual April school election, not later than the 17th day preceding that election; in the case of any special school election, not later than two business days following receipt by the clerk of official notice of the complete content of the ballot to be voted upon at that election; and in the case of the annual November school election, in accordance with the provisions of R.S.19:14-1.

The ballots for an annual school election to be held simultaneously with the general election shall be in accordance with the provisions of chapter 14 of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.

At an annual school election held simultaneously with the general election, the names of the candidates for the office of member of the board of education shall appear on the ballot separately from the names of candidates for other offices whenever possible. Any proposals for additional funds pursuant to paragraph (9) of subsection d. of section 5 of P.L.1996, c.138 (C.18A:7F-5) shall appear on the ballot near the names of the candidates for the office of member of the board of education whenever possible.

L.1995, c.278, s.9; amended 2001, c.26, s.2; 2011, c.202, s.37; 2018, c.20, s.4.