Challengers win right to fight ‘party line’ ballots

June 3, 2022

In primary elections, some candidates are grouped in a horizontal or vertical line by their county party, such as the Camden County Democrat Committee or Democrats for Change. This is called a “county line” or “party line.” Nineteen out of the state’s 21 counties use this kind of ballot design, and New Jersey is the only state to use this type of ballot. Other states group candidates by the office they’re running for, a design that makes it less confusing for voters and allows for a greater choice of candidates, the advocates said in their lawsuit.

A 2020 report by Julia Sass Rubin for New Jersey Policy Perspective found that this type of party grouping delivers a considerable winning advantage. Further, voters can mistakenly invalidate their ballots by voting for multiple candidates running for the same office, according to the NJPP report. Voters can also read their ballots, top down, left to right — so ballots could “favor” those whose names appear first.

NJSpotlight News, June 2, 2022

Recent Posts

NJSPL – Safely Accommodating Micromobility Innovations

From Lab to Streets: Safely Accommodating Micromobility Innovations By Clinton J. Andrews, Leigh Ann von Hagen, Robert Noland, Hannah Younes, Wenwen Zhang, Jie Gong, Dimitris Metaxas, Desheng Zhang Electric scooters have been widely visible on our streets only...

New Jersey State Policy Lab Celebrates 3rd Anniversary

By Elizabeth Cooner, Ed.D. As we celebrate three years since the inception of the New Jersey State Policy Lab (NJSPL), we are proud of the solid foundation of public policy research we have built. Working with more than 120 faculty members, 80 students, and experts at...

RAISE-24 Recap: Does News Media Spread Fear of AI?

Summary The final round for the RAISE-24 Informatics – Data Science competition was held Friday, April 19, 2024 at the Bloustein School. Hosted by the Master of Public Informatics (MPI) program, the inaugural competition challenge asked competitors “Does News Media...

NJ Unemployment Insurance Claims Dashboard Released

The New Jersey Statewide Data System has released the New Jersey Unemployment Insurance Claims Dashboard. This dashboard uses linked, longitudinal administrative data from the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the New Jersey Office of the...

Susan Krum, 2024 Rose Teaching Excellence Award Recipient

The Bloustein School is pleased to announce that Susan Krum, Au.D., interim Executive Director of Health Administration & Associate Teaching Professor is the 2024 recipient of the Jerome G. Rose Excellence in Teaching Award. The award is presented annually to a...

Upcoming Events

Bloustein School Convocation

Jersey Mike's Arena 83 Rockefeller Road, Piscataway, NJ, United States

The formal BLOUSTEIN SCHOOL CONVOCATION ceremony will recognize each graduate individually with pomp and circumstance.  Students will cross the stage and have their names read as they are recognized. Seating is general […]

Implications of Robotics for Public Policy

Virtual

This presentation offers a systematic analysis of the emerging routes by which applications of embodied artificial intelligence—robotics—elicit public policy responses.