In the News

Democratic senator joins fight to end ‘party line’ on NJ ballots

State Sen. Shirley Turner introduces bill to end the practice, reduce power of local party bosses

New Jerseyans overwhelmingly want to ditch ballots that favor party candidates 

The political director for the New Jersey Working Families Party says a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll makes it clear that residents don't want county-line voting to continue.

Strange N.J. law allows establishment candidates at the top of the ballot. This must change.

When Councilwoman Felisha Reyes-Morton ran for mayor last year, her name appeared on the other side of the ballot, making it hard for voters to find her.

New Jersey Working Families Celebrates 1 Year of Advocacy to Abolish the Line

Advocates voice experiences being excluded by antiquated primary ballot system unique to New Jersey.

NJ’s Ballot Line Needs to be Abolished

New Jersey is held back from achieving its democratic potential by a ballot gimmick that gives political party bosses too much control over the nominating process. The gimmick, known as the ballot line, needs to be abolished.  

Local NJ Democrats Want Election Ballot Reform, But Party Bosses Are Skeptical

An ongoing effort to redesign election ballots in New Jersey as a way of establishing equal competition is facing opposition from powerful political influencers in the state, even in small towns where a number of progressive activists are calling for change.

Op-ed: Ballot Line Makes Independent Candidates Into Invisible Ones

Party insiders get preferential placement on New Jersey ballot, while the rest are relegated to ‘ballot Siberia’

Op-Ed: ‘Party insiders have hijacked the ballot’ and we must fix N.J.’s ‘corrupt’ system

In an editorial, Progressive Democrats of Hudson County members Hector Oseguera and Elena Little explain how “party insiders have hijacked the ballot” in New Jersey and why the “corrupt” system must be fixed.

More Than 60 Organizations Call for Better Ballots in New Jersey

With New Jersey’s primary election less than a week away, more than sixty organizations, together representing tens of thousands of voters, have signed onto the Good Government Coalition of New Jersey’s (GGCNJ) Better Ballots campaign.

Tuesday’s primary election is rigged for the old guard | Moran

The primary election is Tuesday, and in most states, that offers a chance to challenge the status quo, to bring in new blood and new perspectives, to give the political body the fresh oxygen it needs to thrive.

NJ ballot design gives huge advantage to party-backed candidates, paper finds

When Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise ran for a fifth term in 2019, he had every advantage over his sole primary challenger, Patricia Waiters.

DeGise, a Democrat, had higher name recognition, tens of thousands more in campaign dollars and endorsements from every Hudson politician.

Government Watchdog Group Launches Campaign to Abolish “The Line” on New Jersey Primary Ballots

New Jersey’s primary ballots are designed to confuse and deceive voters, distorting the electoral process and undermining real democracy in our state, according to the nonpartisan Good Government Coalition of New Jersey (GGCNJ).

Grassroots Activists on the Left and Right Embrace Beyond the Line

Morris County Republicans fighting a proposal to create a “county line” are getting some unexpected  help from, of all people, left wing Democrats.

Progressives File Suit to Eliminate the Party ‘line’ on Ballots

In a move they say is designed to return democratic power to the voters of New Jersey and away from politically connected party bosses, a coalition of progressive organizations and candidates has joined a landmark lawsuit to force reforms in New Jersey elections by limiting the influence county party leaders exert in drawing ballots that favor particular candidates.

Lining up to fight the party line

NJ’s party bosses control the primary ballots, giving their preferred candidates the top spot. Advocates, candidates and now lawmakers want that changed

Biggest winner in NJ primary? The power of the party bosses

New Jersey’s primary election provides three main takeaways: The pro-Trump movement is firmly ensconced in the state Republican Party. Party endorsements and the party line on the ballot are virtually unbeatable. And the average New Jerseyan doesn’t vote in state-level primaries.

Lawsuit seeks to change design of NJ ballots, claims they seem to give advantage to party favorites

New Jersey’s primary election was held on Tuesday, and there is a renewed focus on the design of the ballots themselves. Critics say that the design is unfair to any candidate not connected to powerful political parties.

NEW JERSEY'S PRIMARY ELECTION BALLOTS ARE RIGGED | OPINION

Now that the 2021 primary elections are complete, the stakes in the ongoing challenge to New Jersey’s practice of designing primary ballots to reflect the endorsement (or lack thereof) by county party leadership may seem to be reduced. In our view, however, primary elections have come to represent one of the last and best opportunities to afford New Jersey voters a meaningful choice of candidates. 

DEMOCRACY IN NEW JERSEY IS TAINTED | OPINION

New Jersey is the only state that allows political parties to help determine how candidates appear on the ballot. The result is a system that diminishes the power of voters and ensures that politically connected candidates are elected over and over again.

WILL NJ KILL THE 'COUNTY LINE' ON BALLOTS AND HOBBLE LOCAL POLITICAL MACHINES? | STILE

The "county line,'' the coveted and preferred ballot position of New Jersey office seekers for generations, is now under scrutiny amid the turmoil of the post-Trump era.

MOVE TO DUMP CHIARAVALLOTI COULD HELP PROGRESSIVES END ORGANIZATION LINES

Hudson Assemblyman’s fate could boost federal lawsuit challenging constitutionality of the line.