Two settlements approved in the historic dismantling of New Jersey’s ‘county line’ ballot method

A federal judge on Thursday approved the first two county settlements in a lawsuit filed by U.S. Senate candidate Andy Kim that successfully challenged New Jersey’s Democratic Party primary ballot system that allowed preferential ballot position to party-endorsed candidates.

The agreements were filed by Burlington County, Kim’s home county, and Middlesex County and approved by U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi.

Kim, the Democratic candidate in the general election, called the settlements “the start of a new era of politics.”

“The court judge approved our first settlement agreements — making Burlington & Middlesex counties the first to permanently stop the ‘county line’ ballot. Let’s build momentum across all counties to get NJ the fair ballot it deserves.”

» READ MORE: Andy Kim is battling Tammy Murphy and the machine in the race to replace Sen. Bob Menendez. There’s Jersey drama every weekend. (From March 2024)

While technical in nature, Kim’s lawsuit upended decades of machine politics in New Jersey that allowed party leaders and county convention delegates to endorse candidates for different offices, who were then grouped together, rather than by office, in what was demonstrated to be preferential ballot position.

Kim, running against Tammy Murphy, and the powerful machine of her husband, Gov. Phil Murphy, went for broke in challenging the entire system of “the line” as unconstitutional in his federal lawsuit.

At the same time, during the primary, Kim went county by county to battle it out with Murphy in front of delegates of county conventions, though not every county picked their candidates through an open vote. She ultimately dropped out of the race before the primary, as Kim racked up some unexpected victories.

Kim, a three-term congressman from South Jersey’s 3rd/ district, is now facing Republican Curtis Bashaw, a Cape May hotelier and developer, in the November election.

Kim and Bashaw are running to replace former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who resigned last month after being convicted on bribery charges.

Although many urged Murphy, a Democrat, to appoint Kim to the vacant seat, the governor appointed his former chief of staff, George Helmy, to serve until Nov. 27, when the winner of November’s election is certified. Helmy is now the only Arab American in the U.S. Senate. New Jersey’s registration overwhelmingly favors Kim, the Democrat.

The race had come to symbolize the entrenched system of Democratic machine politics in New Jersey, though some defended the county line system as a way to gain traction without a lot of money. But it was more often criticized as giving unfair advantage to the candidates chosen by county party leaders, in a variety of methods with a variety of rules and transparency.

In the Burlington County settlement, county clerk Joanne Schwartz, named as a defendant in the lawsuit, agreed she will not prepare any primary election ballot that is designed by columns or rows, rather than by office sought.

The ballots cannot position candidates based on “a ballot draw among candidates for a different office.”

The ballots can also no longer place a candidate in what became known as “ballot Siberia,” in which, the settlement states, “there is an incongruous separation from other candidates running for the same office.”

It also prohibits other ballot scenarios, such as placing one candidate underneath another candidate, while the rest of the candidates for that office are “listed horizontally,” or, conversely, placing a candidate to the side of another candidate for the same office, “where the rest of the candidates are listed vertically.”

Ballots cannot bracket candidates together if that means candidates for different offices are featured in the same column or row of the ballot.

If they draw for a ballot spot, the clerk must ensure that “every candidate running for the same office has an equal chance at the first ballot position.”

All ballots, whether vote-by-mail or at a polling site, will be organized by office block rather than party endorsement.

The judge will retain jurisdiction “for the purpose of ensuring compliance,” the settlement states.