An Assembly Select Committee this morning moved A-5116, which makes changes to the design of primary election ballots and certain related primary election procedures; provides for ballots to be arranged by office block; and requires reporting on primary elections by the state Division of Elections.

Consenting with a judge’s order brought on by a lawsuit filed by then-U.S. Rep. Andy Kim (D-3), the bill would effectively eliminate the county line, require block voting, and dispense with “Ballot Siberia” for those candidates unaffiliated with the establishment.

“It is very historic,” said Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly (D-35).

“What we’ve accomplished so far and the spirit in which we’ve accomplished it… is something we should all be proud of,” said Assemblyman Al Barlas (R-40).

“Nothing in this bill prevents someone from being in the top draw,” the Assemblyman added.

Wimberly and Barlas co-chaired the committee, which unanimously passed the bill out of committee.

At its core, the bill prohibits primary election ballots from being designed in a way that separates any one candidate from other candidates running for the same office, places a candidate with candidates for a different office, or awards ballot position to a candidate based upon the draw for ballot position conducted for a candidate for a different office.  The bill also gives discretion to county clerks to arrange and design the ballot in either landscape or portrait orientation.

“Elections are about voters and a testament to our democracy,” said Barlas.

For his part, Wimberly noted that New Jersey has a problem when voters don’t participate in primary elections, a situation not helped by ballots that essentially precondition the results.

Moving the bill today, the committee did its part -to fulfill an order by District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi to design constitutional primary ballots that scrap party line bracketing, or what New Jersey commonly refers to as “the party line.”