New Jersey’s unique primary ballot design seems to face skepticism from judge in lawsuit
TRENTON, NJ– New Jersey’s unique method of drawing primaries drew some apparent skepticism from a federal judge Monday as he considered a legal challenge claiming the system favors favored candidates of party incumbents.
Monday’s hearing in federal court in Trenton came a day after the attorney general said he deemed the longstanding system unconstitutional.
The lawsuit was filed by Democratic Rep. Andy Kim and others seeking to end the state’s so-called county line system for designing primary ballots. The outcome could determine whether that ballot design carries into the contentious June 4 Democratic Senate primary, pitting Kim against first lady Tammy Murphy.
Uniquely in the country, New Jersey places candidates who share the same party slogan together, often with those who receive the support of the provincial political party in first place.
Kim appeared in US court on Monday and testified.
His run against the first lady came after U.S. Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez was indicted on federal bribery charges last September, prompting Kim to declare his candidacy a day later. Murphy, a first-time candidate and wife of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, entered the race in November.
Menendez has not announced his plans, but many Democrats have abandoned him and called for his resignation. He has pleaded not guilty and vowed to fight the charges.
Meanwhile, soon after Murphy entered the race, party leaders in several populous counties, including Bergen and Essex, backed the first lady with a signal that she would get the county line.
Tammy Murphy has said she is participating in the system in place in the state. Kim began calling for the end of the system, which was reviled by some influential progressive groups in the state.
U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi decided Monday whether to issue an emergency order to end the county line system. March 25 is the filing deadline for the primaries, and he told the defendants’ lawyers in court that he wouldn’t spend too much time on it “so you can force the court to say, ‘It’s too late, judge.'”
It is unclear when he will rule on the case, but he has given lawyers until later in the week to respond to the attorney general’s statement.
At times he sounded skeptical of the defendants’ attorneys — most of the state’s county clerks whose job is to design and implement ballots.
He responded curtly to a defendant’s lawyer who claimed that the current system had been in place for a hundred years.
“The argument that because we’ve always done it that way, it must be that way is not going to work in this court,” he said.
When a lawyer for the defendants said at one point that political parties have the right to associate and support their candidates, Quraishi responded with a question.
“Why do they also have to control the vote,” he asked.
The lawyer, William Tambussi, responded that the law allows slogans, with which parties identify themselves, on the ballot.
Kim, a three-term congressman, watched hours of testimony and cross-examination from an election expert his lawyers brought as a witness before taking the stand himself.
He said that when he first considered running for office in 2018, he was told about the importance of getting the county line and that it was “considered very influential in whether I would be successful.”
But Kim had reservations about the system, he said, pointing out that he didn’t always know all the candidates that put him on the ballot.
“I felt like I had no choice but to participate,” he said.
The defendants had argued there is not enough time to review ballots in time for the primary, and their attorneys cited the election expert Kim’s attorney brought as a witness lacking New Jersey knowledge and experience.
A day before the testimony, Attorney General Matt Platkin threw what a defendant’s lawyer called a “litigation grenade” into the case, submitting a letter to the judge concluding that the state’s primary voting system was “unconstitutional” and that he wouldn’t defend it. .
Quraishi seemed irritated by the letter and said he wasn’t sure whether he should think about it. He added that the attorney general could have simply said he would not intervene in the case.
“He’s coming to give his opinion from the cheap seats,” the judge said. “He’s not here today.”
The attorney general’s office declined to comment on Platkin’s letter.
Outside the courthouse, several dozen protesters carried signs that read “abolish the line” and chanted, “This is what democracy looks like.”