Whereas the majority of Democratic and Republican Party primary voters in New Jersey vote using ballots organized around a so-called “county line,” an entire column or row of party-endorsed candidates (Figure 1);

Whereas party-endorsed candidates benefit from appearing on the “county line” alongside better-known candidates, such as those running for President, U.S. Senator, or Governor and are further advantaged because the “county line” typically occupies one of the initial columns or rows on the ballot, while candidates not on the “county line” are disadvantaged by being placed in other columns or rows, sometimes located far away from the county line candidates, and grouped haphazardly and arbitrarily, thereby denying challengers and new voices a fair chance at being elected;

Whereas Rutgers University researchers found that the consequences of the “county line” in advantaging some candidates over others are large and measurable (including providing party-endorsed candidates for Congress with a 35 percentage-point average advantage during the 2020 New Jersey primary), contributing to the fact that no congressional incumbent on the “county line” has lost a primary election in New Jersey over the last 50 years (while nationally, 8 congressional incumbents lost a primary election in 2020 alone) and no state legislative incumbent on the “county line” has lost a primary election in New Jersey since 2009 (while nationally 154 state legislative incumbents lost a primary election in 2020 alone);  

Whereas this “county line” ballot design makes it challenging for voters to determine which candidates are running for which office and encourages voters to choose the candidates on the “county line” — the easy-to-find and visually consistent option;

Whereas the “county line” ballot design confuses voters, resulting in overvotes and undervotes, for example, during the 2020 New Jersey primary election, voter confusion caused by the “county line” ballots resulted in 32.4% of all Mercer County Democratic voters in the 4th Congressional District having their votes disqualified because they selected two Congressional candidates, and 19% of all Atlantic County Democratic voters not voting for any US Senate candidate;

Whereas multiple studies conducted by researchers at New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice have found that ballot design impacts voting behavior and election outcomes;

Whereas the advantages provided by the “county line” disproportionately empower a small group of party insiders who decide which candidates appear on the line, making candidates and elected representatives beholden to these party insiders rather than accountable to voters;

Whereas New Jersey is the only state that uses a “county line” primary ballot design, while in every other state and in Washington, DC, primary ballots are organized by the electoral position being sought, with candidates listed beneath or to the right of each position (see Figure 2 below);

Whereas sixteen states also rotate the order that candidates appear on the primary ballot, so that none of the candidates disproportionately benefit from their position on the ballot; and

Whereas this ballot structure weakens the democratic process in the state of New Jersey; now therefore, be it