A federal judge in New Jersey on Friday ordered the state to change its current ballot design for the upcoming June primary election. Judge Zahid N. Quraishi said the state’s plan is a first-party amendment to the U.S. Constitution because candidates need party support to rank well on the ballot and tend to attract more votes. The court ruled that this raises concerns about freedom of association under Article 13. The system makes it costly for candidates to disagree with the party or its members, Quraishi said.
In a primary election, voters choose which candidate from one party will face a candidate from another party in the general election. U.S. Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) filed the lawsuit against local officials in charge of New Jersey’s primary elections. Officials opposed the suit as a “last-minute election lawsuit,” but Quraishi rejected that characterization, saying his decision was “timely in relation to the 2024 primary.” he claimed.
The preliminary injunction requires local officials to stop using ballots that are “designed in columns or rows” and “place candidates in a way that creates an unnatural distance from other candidates running for the same office.” As a result, unsupported candidates will be excluded from Ballot Siberia. Quraishi noted that “New Jersey is the only state in the nation to organize primary election ballots in this way.”
The injunction also requires local officials to use ballots that are “organized by the office sought” and “randomized to give each candidate for the same office an equal opportunity to receive first voting rank.” It mandates the application of a “selected voting order system (e.g. random draw)”.
Quraishi recalled:[t]”The integrity of the democratic process of the primary election is at stake,” he said, adding that the “unusual” step of ordering New Jersey to change its ballots was necessary.
Regarding this decision, Kim said:[t]Today’s decision is a victory for fairer, more democratic politics in New Jersey,” he said. “Fixing this unfair voting system is a huge step toward perfecting our democracy.” . He is running for the Senate seat held by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who is facing various charges in an alleged bribery scheme. The general election will be held in November.
But New Jersey Senate President Nicholas P. Scutari is now warning:[m]They will be more important than ever” because “[p]Those with money will have a better chance of winning without having to rely on the support of longtime party members. ”
Many states are facing lawsuits and changes to voting rules for the upcoming 2024 election. Separate from this latest change, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy recently signed a bill allowing 17-year-olds to vote in the state’s primary elections.