Cape May County Republican Organization Chairman Michael Donohue released a statement attacking a recent federal court decision that requires changes to the primary ballot format used throughout the state.
Donohue, in the March 29 release, said the decision “moved aside the entire New Jersey Legislature and became an uber-lawmaker rewriting New Jersey’s election statutes.”
But a subsequent clarification by the judge, Zahid Quraishi, said that the ruling applies only to Democratic ballots.
Quraishi’s original decision requires that candidates in the primary election be grouped on the ballot by the office they are seeking. Rep. Andy Kim (D-3) asked the court to ban the use of what has become known as the county-line ballot, which he claims gives advantageous ballot positions to candidates endorsed by the local party organization.
Kim is one of the Democrats seeking his party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Robert Menendez.
In the current ballot design, those candidates officially endorsed by the leaders of the local Democratic and Republican party organizations are listed in a single column or row. This positioning is known as “the line.”
On April 1, Quraishi rejected a challenge to the ruling by a group of county clerks. They asked the court to halt the decision forbidding them from using the disputed ballots. In a brief order, the court said, “Defendants do not raise any new facts or law suggesting their appeal is likely to succeed on the merits. The court declines to retread the same ground a second time.”
Some clerks have warned that it is too late to change the format of the primary ballots. Nineteen of the state’s 21 counties use some form of a party column format for primary elections. Vote-by-mail ballots should begin going out on April 20.
Supporters of the decision say that it diminishes the power of the county party chairmen on both sides of the aisle. Kim lodged his suit after a group of Passaic Democratic leaders awarded their county line to New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy. Murphy has since withdrawn from the race.
Quraishi was not unaware of the significance of his ruling. He said, “The integrity of the democratic process for a primary election is at stake, and the remedy plaintiffs are seeking is extraordinary.”
For Donohue, the initial ruling represented an attack on the right of association for political activities. In his release, Donohue said, “The federal court tells us that we may not associate as a political party on the ballot at election time. This is an outrageous destruction of our freedom of association.”
But the initial interpretation that the court ruling applied to both political parties was short-lived.
The new wrinkle came when Quraishi clarified that his injunction in the case “is, and must be, limited to the 2024 Democratic primary election. Plaintiffs’ allegations and sought relief only applied to the 2024 Democratic primary elections.”
Contact the author, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
