“Abolishing the county line would be an earthquake for New Jersey politics,” said Julia Sass Rubin, a professor at Rutgers Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy who has been counseling local municipal parties about reform efforts.
“Our entire system is built on transactions, starting with whatever candidates have to do to obtain the county line. Without the line, our elected officials would have to worry about pleasing the voters rather than pleasing the party bosses, and we would likely see a lot more political bravery.”
Related Policy Briefs
Toeing the Line: New Jersey Primary Ballots Enable Party Insiders to Pick Winners
Does the County Line Matter? An Analysis of New Jersey’s 2020 Primary Election Results
Other Related Media Mentions
‘Buy the line’: Text messages in 2020 NJ primary raise questions about Bergen ballots
Money has always talked in New Jersey politics, but should it?
One step closer to ending NJ’s rigged primaries | Editorial
Videos
Why New Jersey’s county line primary ballots are destroying democracy (90 seconds)
Why New Jersey’s county line primary ballots are destroying democracy (5 minutes)