A federal judge on Monday denied a request by county clerks to halt his own high-profile decision to eliminate New Jersey’s controversial “county line” ballot design in this year’s Democratic primary as the ruling faces an appeal.
U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi on Friday granted an emergency injunction against the system — the only of its kind in the country — as part of a lawsuit U.S. Rep. Andy Kim filed claiming the setup was unconstitutional as he runs for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.
Under the century-old design, candidates endorsed by county parties are given preferential placement on primary ballots, with opponents listed to the side — a system often criticized for giving power to party bosses. If the injunction survives appeal, the setup will be blocked for the June 4 Democratic primary and clerks will be required instead to group candidates together by office, as other states do.
Seventeen of the state’s 21 county clerks on Friday appealed the injunction to the U.S. 3rd District Court of Appeals and asked the judge to stay, or stop, its implementation during the appeals process. They argued redoing the design so quickly is unfeasible, saying it posed an “undue risk to the administration of this year’s primary elections.”
But the request was a long shot, and Quraishi denied it.
“Specifically, Defendants do not raise any new facts or laws suggesting their appeal is likely to succeed on its merits,” the judge wrote in his new decision. “The Court declines to retread the same ground a second time.”
That means the issue is now up to the appeals court, and the clock is ticking. Military and overseas ballots are set to go out April 20.
The Camden County Democratic Party wasted no time, seeking an emergency stay from the the 3rd Circuit pending an expedited appeal of the lower court’s order.
“The constitutionality of New Jersey’s bracketing system has consistently been challenged and repeatedly been upheld as constitutional,” attorneys for the organization wrote. “The bracketing system as designed strikes the balancing between affording candidates equal access to the ballot and equal opportunity to obtain first position on the ballot in a nondiscriminatory manner in the case of U.S. Senate candidates like Plaintiff here while protecting the constitutional rights of political party organizations to freely associate with candidates of their choosing who best represent their ideologies and preferences.”
The Camden motion added that issuing a preliminary injunction without a full hearing on the impact of the change in ballot design “and without the opportunity to educate the electorate in a presidential election year on a radically changed ballot” would have a detrimental impact on the integrity of the electoral process.
Monday’s ruling is the latest development in what has been a whirlwind week in New Jersey politics.
Last Sunday, First Lady Tammy Murphy, Gov. Phil Murphy’s wife and Kim’s top opponent, dropped out of the Democratic primary to take over for indicted Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez. Kim had claimed Murphy was unfairly benefitting from the county-line system but decided to press on with the suit even after her departure.
On Friday, Quraishi issued the injunction Kim requested prohibiting the design in the primary as the case proceeds — a sign the judge might ultimately side with Kim and rule the line is unconstitutional in his final decision.
That sent shockwaves through New Jersey since the county line is considered a cornerstone of the state’s often-machine-driven politics and its demise would cause a sea change.
Then, on Saturday, Quraishi clarified the ruling applies only to this year’s Democratic primary, saying the arguments Kim and his fellow Democratic plaintiffs made were limited to that race because Republicans weren’t involved in the change.
That means while Democrats will have to use a new design, Republicans will still be allowed to use the line on their ballots this year — though the judge noted nothing prevents Republicans from dropping the system, as well.
At least one Republican group, America First Republicans of New Jersey, has said it will join Kim’s suit. The goal, the pro-Donald Trump organization said, is to ensure the county-line system is “not unjustly imposed on Republican voters” this primary.
“The basis of our Republic is equality under the law,” Mike Crispi, a podcast host and the group’s co-chair, said in a statement. “If a federal court can protect the rights of Democrat voters, it must protect our rights, too.”
The heated Democratic primary between Kim and Murphy brought renewed and national attention to the line, which has been long debated in New Jersey.
The system permits Democratic and Republican parties to endorse candidates in all races and then bracket them together in a line on primary ballots. Critics say the arrangement — used in 19 of New Jersey’s 21 counties — allows the endorsed candidates to appear more prominent on ballots and makes it easier for voters simply to vote down the line.
Research shows candidates that receive the line are greatly favored to win their party’s nomination in the primary. In other states, primary candidates are grouped together simply by the offices they are seeking, known as “office block” ballots.
Opponents say the line imbues party insiders with immense leverage, helping them control the outcome of elections and demand fealty from candidates. Supporters of the system say it helps voters better see the candidates that party leaders prefer and create stronger nominees for general elections.
County clerks and others have argued that upheaving the setup so close to the primary could force errors and confuse voters.
Two counties declined to join the clerks’ appeal: Burlington and Hudson. Salem and Sussex counties do not bestow lines and are not involved in the case.
Earlier Monday, attorneys for Kim urged the judge to deny the stay.
“Every county in the state is now able to present races in office-block format, and many have demonstrably done so in the past, using the same equipment,” they wrote. “There is absolutely no credible evidence of an ‘undue risk to the administration of this year’s primary elections.’”
Read Monday’s decision:
NJ Advance Media staff writer Susan K. Livio contributed to this report.
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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X at @johnsb01.
Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TedShermanSL.
