NJPP REPORT: Toeing the Line: New Jersey Primary Ballots Enable Party Insiders to Pick Winners
NJPP REPORT: Toeing the Line: New Jersey Primary Ballots Enable Party Insiders to Pick Winners
For Immediate Release
Contact: Louis Di Paolo (NJPP): 201-417-5049 (cell) or dipaolo@njpp.org
June 29, 2020 – New Jersey’s unique primary ballot design has helped shape electoral outcomes for more than two decades, shifting the power of choosing general election candidates away from voters and towards county party insiders, according to a new report released by New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP).
The report, Toeing the Line: New Jersey Primary Ballots Enable Party Insiders to Pick Winners, reviews primary ballots in all fifty states and the District of Columbia and finds that New Jersey’s ballots are a national outlier.
“The primary ballots that millions of New Jersey residents use look nothing like the primary ballots used in every other state in the country,” said Julia Sass Rubin, report author and professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. “New Jersey primary ballots violate the rules of good ballot design and confuse and mislead voters.”
Primary ballots used by the majority of New Jersey voters are organized around a slate of candidates endorsed by either the Democratic or the Republican Party. These slates of candidates are known as the “county line” or the “party line.” No other state uses a ballot design like this, according to the report.
“Rather than organizing our primary ballots around the office being sought and clearly indicating which candidates are running for each position, most counties organize the primary ballots around a slate of party endorsed candidates,” Rubin added. “As a result, New Jersey’s primary ballots give the party endorsed candidates an almost insurmountable advantage and enable party insiders rather than the voters to pick the winners in primary contests.”
New Jersey’s primary ballots make it much more challenging for voters to determine which candidates are running for each office, providing a substantial electoral advantage to candidates on the “county line,” regardless of the office being sought.
“A ballot is supposed to be a neutral forum where voters can participate in a democratic society through selection of candidates for various offices,” said Brett Pugach, an election law attorney with Bromberg Law LLC and author of a new article in the Rutgers Law Review on New Jersey’s ballot design. “In New Jersey, primary election ballots have been a source of confusion and have been transformed into a political weapon through the ability to manipulate the ballot position of candidates and the use of visual cues which can influence voter behavior. This unique ballot structure is so convoluted that it comes with its own set of vocabulary, with words like bracketing, preferential ballot draw, Ballot Siberia, and phantom candidates. None of New Jersey’s unique ballot design features are necessary, and ballot reform is needed to restore faith in our democracy.”
To measure the advantage of being on the “county line,” the report references a recent analysis by the Communications Workers of America found that no state legislative incumbent on the line had lost a primary election in New Jersey between 2009 and 2018. While incumbents generally win reelection, that advantage is rarely so absolute.
“This is gerrymandering of the ballot, a manipulative tactic used to pre-determine election outcomes and diminish the voice and will of voters,” said Jesse Burns, Executive Director, League of Women Voters of New Jersey. “We cannot stand by while the corrupting influence of power subverts our democracy. We demand better for New Jersey voters.”
The report concludes with a recommendation for state lawmakers to change the state’s primary ballots to be structured like those in other states so voters, not party insiders, can decide who wins in primary elections.
“The right to vote in a free and fair election is fundamental, not only to democracy but to equitable policy outcomes,” said Brandon McKoy, President of New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP). “For New Jersey’s elected officials to truly represent their communities, it is essential that primary ballots be impartial. As this report shows, this is unfortunately not the case.”
Watch a recording of the report release here.
Download the report release here.
New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) is a nonpartisan think tank that drives policy change to advance economic, social, and racial justice through evidence-based, independent research, analysis, and advocacy.
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