---
type: "Bill"
title: "Permits candidates for school board to circulate petitions jointly and be bracketed together on ballot; permits short nonpolitical designation of principles on petitions and ballots."
description: "Permits candidates for school board to circulate petitions jointly and be bracketed together on ballot; permits short nonpolitical designation of principles on petitions and ballots."
jurisdiction: "us/states/nj"
legislature: "New Jersey Legislature"
session: "218"
identifier: "S 868"
citation: "New Jersey S 868 (218)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["ELECTIONS", "SCH BOARDS"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Coughlin, Craig J.", "Jasey, Mila M.", "Schaer, Gary S.", "Sweeney, Stephen M.", "Vitale, Joseph F."]
version_count: 1
action_count: 8
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2018-01-09T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2018-05-30T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/86c4d7db-556f-49ad-aeb9-32b6d17880bc"
source_url: "http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/downloads.asp"
source_hash: "ad2655ed2ccd05ae19049be82907bb7d076e8019698b8cbfb75a21605b9817c9"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-nj"]
---

# New Jersey S 868 (218) — Permits candidates for school board to circulate petitions jointly and be bracketed together on ballot; permits short nonpolitical designation of principles on petitions and ballots.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2018/Bills/S1000/868_I1.HTM)

## Votes

- 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE — **27–10** (pass) · upper
- Reported favorably out of committee — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE — **70–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported favorably out of committee — **4–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Coughlin, Craig J. — primary (person)
- Jasey, Mila M. — primary (person)
- Schaer, Gary S. — primary (person)
- Sweeney, Stephen M. — primary (person)
- Vitale, Joseph F. — primary (person)
- Chiaravalloti, Nicholas — cosponsor (person)
- Handlin, Amy H. — cosponsor (person)
- Mosquera, Gabriela M. — cosponsor (person)
- Ruiz, M. Teresa — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-01-09T05:00:00+00:00** Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2018-02-26T05:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Senate Committee, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2018-03-26T04:00:00+00:00** Passed Senate (27-10) `passage`
- **2018-04-05T04:00:00+00:00** Received in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee `referral-committee`
- **2018-04-05T04:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Assembly Committee, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2018-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** Substituted for A2030
- **2018-04-12T04:00:00+00:00** Passed Assembly (Passed Both Houses) (70-0-0) `passage`
- **2018-05-30T04:00:00+00:00** Approved P.L.2018, c.20. `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/86c4d7db-556f-49ad-aeb9-32b6d17880bc`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official New Jersey legislature records).