By Stephen Appezzato
NEW JERSEY – Last week, a momentous court decision changed the way June’s primary election ballots will appear, eliminating a controversial design unique to New Jersey.
On March 29, U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi granted Senate candidate and current U.S. Rep. Andy Kim (D-3) and Congressional candidates Sarah Schoengood and Carolyn Rush a preliminary injunction to remove the “county line” from the upcoming primary ballot in New Jersey. In the lawsuit filed in February, Democrats Kim, Schoengood and Rush sued 19 of the 21 county clerks in the state to remove the unique marker from the ballot.
While other states organize primary ballots based on the electoral position sought by each candidate, in 19 New Jersey counties, the county line determines the order of candidates. This column – the first on the ballot – only contains candidates endorsed by county political parties. That has created controversy as it is considered the prime location on the ballot. Candidates not endorsed by county political parties are usually scattered across the rest of the ballot.
Critics of the county line, which include the ACLU of New Jersey and the Harvard Law Election Clinic, call it unconstitutional. By design, the county line allows political party bosses in some counties to grant candidates prime placement through their endorsement; party committees in other counties, like Monmouth, to do the same through a secret vote.
In his opinion, Quraishi described the county line as “likely unconstitutional.” In the lawsuit, counsel for the coalition of clerks argued the county line system preserves candidates’ and political parties’ rights to associate, communicates those associations, provides a manageable and understandable ballot, and prevents voter confusion. Furthermore, the coalition raised concerns over the timeline of Kim’s challenge and the logistical issues that would arise from reformatting the primary ballot so close to the June 4 election.
Quraishi ultimately decided the burden faced by Kim, Schoengood and Rush as a result of the county line was greater than that of the county clerks who must revise the ballots.
In a statement responding to Quraishi’s decision, Kim described the case as a “victory for a fairer, more democratic politics in New Jersey.”
“It’s a victory built from the incredible grassroots work of activists across our state who saw an undemocratic system marginalizing the voices of voters, and worked tirelessly to fix it,” Kim said.
A day after the decision, 17 of the 19 clerks filed an appeal – which was swiftly denied April 1. In a last ditch effort an emergency stay was filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which was denied April 3. The court will hear oral arguments on the matter next week, but at this time county clerks are still required to prepare office-block ballots for June.
Monmouth County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon was one of the 19 county clerks who appeared in the lawsuit. In a statement to The Two River Times Hanlon raised concerns regarding the rollout of the new ballot design.
“Unfortunately, the Court decision did not take into account that ES&S Election Systems – the company that owns and controls the proprietary software used to program the new voting equipment used in Monmouth and many other counties – still has not confirmed whether their machines can be quickly reprogrammed for office block balloting, whether they can be programmed differently for each party’s primary, and what, if any, other logistical issues would be created by different ballot styles,” Hanlon said.
“Adding to the complexity is the fact that the County Clerk has no jurisdiction over the voting machines, as they were purchased by the County Superintendent of Elections. The County Clerk also does not have jurisdiction over the mail-in-ballot scanners, which were purchased by the County Board of Elections,” she said.
“That being said, my office is working as fast as possible to try to find a solution in coordination with the Superintendent and Board of Elections, as well as our ballot printing vendor and representatives from ES&S, to ensure that we can comply with the Court order and effectuate an election with integrity for our Monmouth County voters,” Hanlon said.
Kim filed his lawsuit at a time when New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy was competing for the Democratic senate nomination – and winning in the fight for county lines. While Murphy since suspended her campaign, the court’s decision will impact Rush’s and Schoengood’s races for the House of Representatives, if it stands.
In a statement, Monmouth County Democrats chairman David Brown said the court ruling does not change his mission of “party building and electing Democrats.” Brown said the party applauds and respects the court decision, “which will lead to more candidates running for office and more opportunities for Democracy.”
The article originally appeared in the April 4 – April 10, 2024 print edition of The Two River Times.
