New Jersey

“Anything they’re doing, they’re doing to maintain some favoritism for them, some advantage on the ballot, which means it’s not a fair ballot,” said Rutgers Professor Julia Sass Rubin, whose research was cited in overturning the county line. “The point of the ballot is to have a fair way for voters to indicate their preference.”

“The [elected] position would be at the top; there would be the names of all the candidates beneath that,” said Rubin. “It would be clear visually for people to look at it and understand what the position is, how many people they should vote for.

“Do you want a horrible ballot, or do you just want a terrible ballot, I guess is what you’re asking me,” Rubin replied to Barlas. “I would say, let’s go for a fair ballot.”

“Anything that’s not a clean ballot in terms of just a list of candidates in an office block style — nothing differentiating them — is not ideal,” said Julia Sass Rubin, a Rutgers associate professor who has done extensive research on the ballot design’s impact.

“I think it’s still a very unfair ballot,” Rubin said. “I would say let’s go for a fair ballot.”