The “Hot Mess” of New Jersey’s election ballots

July 1, 2020

New Jersey is holding its first statewide vote-by-mail primary on July 7th.  Even though COVID-19 has made 2020 a difficult and unusual election year all over the country,  the Garden State has its own unique problems that predate the pandemic.

A coalition of activists, election lawyers, researchers, and public policy experts say the state has the most convoluted ballot design in the whole country. 

“I am not seeing anything that even closely resembles what we do,” said Julia Sass Rubin, professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.  She collected ballot samples from multiple counties in all 50 states. 

The Gothamist, June 30, 2020

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