Taken together, these five reforms would help vanquish the powerful grip that political machines have long had on our state.
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New Jersey’s electoral process just got upended
Party leaders give preferential placement to their candidates. Those not on the county line are tucked away in obscure rows and columns. Julia Sass Rubin of Rutgers University
looked at 20 years of New Jersey races and found that the county line steered voters and helped preferred candidates by an average difference of 38%.
County clerks forge ahead with new ballot design
New Jersey Democratic primary voters will see ballots that look very different from what they are used to and also different from the ones Republican voters will see. County clerks are designing ballots for the June election to comply with the recent federal court...
Julia Rubin and Rutgers Experts Make History on Party Line
“One of the impacts of the county line has been discouraging those who do not receive the party’s endorsement from running. Candidates understand that running off the line is ineffective so they tend to drop out if they are not selected for the line.”
Could the end of the NJ county line doom county political machines? Some wonder
“I think people will start to speak up and you’ll see more people entering contests,” said Julia Sass Rubin. “You will see more pushback … We’ll see more bravery.”
Abolishing the “Ballot Line” Will Reshape Progressive Politics
The state’s powerful political machines, which have dominated Garden State politics and dictated its policies for much of the last century, lost their most potent tool — the “county line” primary ballot.
Hudson County primary steps up as ‘county-line’ ruling sets in
“I think the voters are smart and they are discerning and we have to expect more of them,” said Julia Sass Rubin, an associate professor with Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. “We have to provide them with information to make those decisions. That’s something New Jersey really hasn’t done.”
New Jersey politics will never be the same – Opinion Rubin
The state’s powerful political machines, which have dominated Garden State politics and dictated its policies for much of the last century, lost their most potent tool — the “county line” primary ballot.
New Jersey Ballot Ruling Applies Only to Democratic Race, Judge Says
“It’s just a hiccup,” Dr. Rubin said. “If this decision holds, it will completely upend New Jersey politics.”
A judge’s decision is sending shockwaves through N.J., where politics is ruled by backroom deals
It’s called the “county line” — and it’s been the stuff of backroom Jersey politics that allowed party bosses to play an outsized role for decades in determining the winners and losers on election day. Now, a federal judge may have changed all of that with a 49-page ruling Friday that sent shockwaves through the state and could forever curb the power of those bosses.
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2025 Bloustein Alumni Awards Celebration
Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ, United StatesSince 1994, the Bloustein School Alumni Association has aimed to present awards to accomplished alumni each year. Our goal is to pay tribute to alumni and friends to recognize their […]
RAISE 2025 – Our Future With AI: Utopian or Dystopian?
Gov. James J. Florio Special Events Forum, CSB 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, United StatesInformatics - Data Science - AI Competition Step into the future of innovation! RAISE-25 will challenge you to unravel the scope of AI's impact on our lives and human society. […]
Can We Talk? Addressing Equity and the Impact of Social Determinants on Maternal Health
Bloustein School, Civic Square Building 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, United StatesPresented by the Bloustein School and Rutgers School of Nursing