New Jersey’s Ballot Must Be Immediately Redesigned, Federal Judge Rules

March 29, 2024

A federal judge has granted an emergency request to force New Jersey to redesign its election ballot before the June primary, upending a longstanding source of electoral power for the state’s Democratic and Republican parties.

The ruling, issued on Friday, is expected to fundamentally reshape politics in New Jersey and will have an immediate effect on June’s primary races.

Studies by professors from Rutgers and Princeton Universities have shown that the county line gives candidates an often insurmountable advantage.

One study by Julia Sass Rubin, an associate dean at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Policy at Rutgers, found that being on the county line gave congressional candidates an advantage of 38 percentage points.

The New York Times, March 29, 2024

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