New Jersey has a new primary ballot design now that Gov. Phil Murphy has signed it into law — though it remains to be seen whether it the measure will be challenged in court.
With the governor’s quiet approval last week, the new rules of the ballot shepherd the state into a new era of primary elections.
The main purpose of the ballot overhaul is to organize candidates by the office they’re seeking, getting rid of the longstanding county line design. The county line grouped together party-endorsed candidates and put outsiders not supported by their county political establishment at a disadvantage by listing them on less prominent positions on the ballot.
The death of the county line ballot is a victory for candidates who want to run for office without the prized endorsement of their county party committee, and it can motivate more candidates to throw their hat in the ring to compete for support from voters, not party bosses. This year, 10 candidates are running for governor.
But progressive advocates say the new design still has issues reminiscent of the old design, in part because it still groups together certain candidates in a way that could favor the establishment.The new law provides design guidelines for clerks to create primary ballots for their counties, but the plan for the ballot is currently just words on a page. The new ballots will be created in time for the June 10 primary.