Senate approves bill to revamp design of primary ballots

Yahoo

26-02-2025

The bill would eliminate the long-controversial county line, which critics say gives party-backed candidates an insurmountable advantage. (Daniella Heminghaus for New Jersey Monitor)
New Jersey is one step closer to new primary ballots.
The Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that would require New Jersey to organize candidates on the ballot by the office they're seeking instead of grouping together those who have the backing of county party officials. The change would eliminate the long-controversial county line, which critics say gives party-backed candidates an insurmountable advantage.
The bill advanced 35-2, with Sens. Raj Mukherji (D-Hudson) and Holly Schepisi (R-Bergen) opposing the measure. The amended bill still has to go back to the Assembly for approval before heading to the governor's desk for a signature or veto.
Yael Niv is president of the Good Government Coalition of New Jersey. Niv said her group is 'deeply disappointed' in the Senate's overwhelming approval of the measure, which she called a 'bad bill that tries to keep as skewed a process as possible within court orders.'
'When democratic processes are under attack by the federal government, New Jersey can and should do better,' she said.
Schepisi switched her vote from yes to no seconds before the vote was tallied, a decision she made after seeing Mukherji's vote, she said.
Schepisi said there was a 'gentlemanly agreement' that everyone would unanimously vote to support the bill because 'we have to do something pursuant to the court's decision.' Schepisi was referring to a March 2024 federal judge's decision that said ballots with the county line are likely unconstitutional.
'When I saw that agreement not upheld, I had indicated to my own caucus that if anybody else kind of peeled off, I was going to vote the way I wanted to,' she said, without explaining her issues with the bill.
Mukherji did not respond to requests for comment.
Progressive activists have for years targeted the county line, which took party-backed candidates in primaries and grouped them in one column or row. Critic say the new ballot design envisioned by the bill could still give some candidates unfair advantages.
The legislation would allow candidates running as a group to have their ballot positions selected after a single draw instead of multiple draws for individual candidates. Other provisions would label candidates based on where they fall on the ballot — like 1A if they're named first — which critics say serves no purpose.
The bill would allow the New Jersey secretary of state to prohibit candidates from using similar slogans, though the bill doesn't say how officials would determine when two slogans are too similar to use.
Changes to the state's primary ballots come about three months before the June 10 Democratic and Republican primaries, when both parties' gubernatorial hopefuls and all 80 Assembly races will be on the ballot.
The Senate also unanimously advanced a bill to allow New Jersey municipalities and counties to print legal notices in digital newspapers through June 30 as the circulation of daily newspapers dwindles.
State law requires towns to publish public and legal notices in newspapers, a requirement that critics say has become antiquated as published newspapers have seen their circulations drop.
The push to end the requirement began again in earnest after the Star-Ledger, the state's largest daily news outlet, announced it would cease publishing its print edition, leaving many towns without a newspaper to publish these notices.
The measure would also require media outlets that publish those notices to share data on subscribers, page views, and sales with state officials.
Gov. Phil Murphy signed a similar bill in December that allowed local governments to print legal notices digitally until March 1. The bill approved Tuesday would give the Legislature another four months to come up with a more permanent solution.
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