For Immediate Release: February 9, 2024

The adoption of office bloc ballots for the 2024 primary elections would give voters a fair choice of candidates, without the county party’s influence by preferential candidate positioning.

Cherry Hill, NJ: The groups in Fair Ballot Alliance NJ support the joint call made by U.S. Senate candidates Patricia Campos-Medina, Larry Hamm, and Andy Kim for all N.J. county clerks to utilize office bloc ballot design for all competitive primary elections in the 2024 primary elections. “It is time that New Jersey ends its status as the only state in the union that allows county party insiders to use ballot design to skew election results to favor party candidate picks,” said Marie HenselderKimmel, leader of NJ Voters Want More Say and a coalition leader. “We encourage all candidates to call for impartial ballots that empower voters to determine the outcome of primary elections to strengthen democracy here in New Jersey.”

Fair Ballot Alliance NJ, a coalition of 33 grassroots and good governance groups and supporting organizations across New Jersey, held a press conference on December 12, 2023 asking all declared candidates for U.S. Senate to publicly call on N.J. county party chairs to adopt fair ballots with office bloc design for the 2024 primary election. Kim, Hamm, and Campos-Medina, along with Republican Senate candidate Gregg Mele, all responded to the coalition’s request with calls on the county chairs to do so. “Fair Ballot Alliance NJ calls on the county clerks — who have the final say on how the ballots are designed — to adopt office bloc ballots.” said Matt Dragon, State Committee Member, Our Revolution New Jersey. “All politicking in the form of endorsements and electioneering should stop at the voter’s ballot. We’ve seen a majority of primary candidates and thousands of voters call for an office bloc ballot for U.S. Senate. Who are the clerks to ignore that?”

Democracy is a core value of all Americans, and every voter is entitled to free and fair elections. We can start right here at home, in this critical state-wide race for the U.S. Senate. All candidates in the June Senate Primary should have equal placement on a ballot that provides voters a clear choice, not a ballot that is biased toward any one candidate. Let’s make sure the June primary is a fair election.

The Fair Ballot Alliance New Jersey is a statewide coalition of grassroots groups calling for a fair primary election for the US Senate election in 2024 and, ultimately, the adoption of a FAIR “office bloc” ballot design for all elections in New Jersey.
www.fairballotalliancenj.org
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