A judge has ordered the Passaic County Clerk’s Office to draft new ballots, according to a report from TAPinto Paterson, ruling the current ballot design illegal.

From the report:  ‘an appellate court ruled that its decision to include blank columns on the ballots of 15 of the county’s 16 towns was unlawful. Opponents alleged that the blanks were an effort to confuse voters by distancing candidates from their party lines.  A special election in New Jersey’s 38th legislative district meant that three columns (one senator, two assembly members) would need to be included on the ballot for Hawthorne, Passaic’s only municipality in the district.’

The report continues ‘Following the failed appeal, the clerk’s office has provided new ballots to the plaintiff’s team. “The blank spaces have been eliminated, and that’s a good outcome for the people of Passaic county,” says [Passaic County Freeholder and attorney John] Bartlett’.