‘A seismic shift:’ N.J. must redesign ballots after a judge rules against the system that long favored party-backed candidates

In a ruling that threatens to upend the decades-old grip New Jersey’s political bosses have held over primary elections, a federal judge on Friday rejected the state’s unique system of granting party-endorsed candidates preferential positions on electoral ballots.

Siding with critics who called the practice — known as “the county line” — “unjust and unconstitutional,” U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi ordered the state’s elections officials to redesign ballots for the upcoming June primary to put all candidates on an equal footing.

Though his order, issued in the form of a preliminary injunction, only addressed to this upcoming vote, the judge acknowledged that the “county line’s” challengers — including U.S. Rep. Andy Kim (D., N.J.) — were likely to prevail as the case moves forward and as future elections are considered.

Should the ruling stand, experts say it could prompt a monumental shift in New Jersey’s political landscape, cracking the once insurmountable odds outsider candidates faced when challenging incumbents or party favorites. The fallout could also reshuffle the field of likely contenders ahead the state’s 2025 governor’s race.

Quraishi acknowledged the potential magnitude of his decision in his 49-page opinion Friday. But, he wrote: “The integrity of the democratic process for a primary election is at stake.”

Kim, whose lawsuit challenging “county line” ballot positioning prompted the ruling, hailed the decision 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,” he said in a statement. “While fixing this unfair ballot system is a massive step forward towards perfecting our democracy, there is still work to be done.”

New Jersey is the only state in the country that — until Friday — had allowed county parties to bracket endorsed candidates together in prime ballot positions, while exiling all others to what insiders colloquially describe as “ballot Siberia.”

While other states group candidates for the same office together on their ballots, those presented to New Jersey primary voters had put winners of party endorsements for all offices together in one column while relegating the rest to other, less prominent placements.

Some of the 19 of New Jersey’s 21 counties to follow the “county line system” left the decision of which candidates received prime positioning up to a single local party boss.

Either way, studies have shown that such favorable ballot placement can make a big difference in the outcome of the vote — with some researchers putting the advantage it grants as high as nearly 40%.

Still, defenders of “the county line” maintain it helps voters clearly see the candidates a party supports and prevents “fringe” candidates from taking over a nomination process.

Kim, who filed suit in February amid a fierce Democratic primary battle against New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy to replace U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, argued the system deterred newcomers from running for office while cementing the power of incumbents and party machines.

Murphy, the wife of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, entered the race in November as a front-runner with the backing of many of the state’s party leaders and, under the old system, the edge in gaining top ballot placement in several counties.

Kim and his backers argued that several of those leaders held state jobs or have business relations with the Murphy administration, giving them an incentive to support the governor’s wife.

Tammy Murphy abruptly suspended her Senate campaign on Sunday and within days, almost every county offered Kim the “county line” ballot position in her absence.

Still, he pressed on with his legal challenge — even as he stood to benefit from his newly won favorable ballot placement — calling it a fight against what he described as the state’s “broken” machine politics.

In a surprise move, New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, a Murphy acolyte, also broke with the governor and refused to defend the “county line” in court, calling it “unconstitutional.”

But following Platkin’s decision, Gov, Murphy, who had defended the system in the past, said he believed the “county line” system had “served us well over the years,” but added he was “open-minded to tweaks.”

Platkin and Murphy declined to comment Friday on Quraishi’s decision. Others, though, scrambled to parse its implications.

Chris Russell, a Republican political consultant in the state, predicted that, assuming the ruling survives appeal, it will prompt “a seismic shift in New Jersey politics.”

“It will be a game changer,” he said. “The New Jersey system for years has been predicated upon the strength of county organizations and county chairmen and women, and if this ruling holds … it certainly would dramatically shift the balance of power within the primary system.”

But he cautioned that it’s not a sure thing that grassroots or movement candidates will necessarily be the benefactors. Instead, the ruling could open the door for more self-funded candidates or those backed by deep-pocketed special interests, he said.

“There’s an argument to be made that money now will matter even more,” he said. Those who assume the ruling is a win for grassroots candidates “may want to watch what they wish for.”

William J. Caruso, a public affairs consultant, lawyer, and former staffer to several New Jersey Democratic elected officials, said that in the short term, the decision could end up hurting Kim, since he held “county line” advantage in most counties after Tammy Murphy’s withdrawal.

In the long term, Caruso added, it could affect the types of candidates who emerge as front-runners in the future primary votes. If local GOP parties have less influence, he said, “the concern there is that New Jersey’s candidates move further to the right because of the Trump base.”

Meanwhile, the state’s elected county clerks, who were named as defendants in Kim’s lawsuit, had more practical concerns on their minds and were considering their options for appeal.

“With ballots required to be printed in one week and voting starting in 20 days, many county clerks have significant concerns about the feasibility of compliance with the court’s order,” John Carbone, an attorney who represented some of them in court, said in a statement.

But for now, progressive and antiestablishment activists were eager to celebrate a victory.

“Today’s historic ruling to abolish the line will strengthen New Jersey’s democracy by putting voters back in charge of selecting the candidates that will represent them in nearly every level of government,” said Antoinette Miles, state director of the New Jersey Working Families Party. “Candidates will now be answerable to voters at the ballot box — not corporate special interests who control the awarding of the line.”

Staff writers Julia Terruso and Andrew Seidman contributed to this article.

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