Two Settlements Approved in Historic Abolition of County-Border Voting in New Jersey

A federal judge on Thursday approved the first two district settlements in a case filed by U.S. Senate candidate Andy Kim, who successfully challenged New Jersey’s Democratic primary voting system that gave preferential placement to party-endorsed candidates.

The agreements were filed by Burlington County, Kim’s home county, and Middlesex County and approved by District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi.

Kim, the Democratic candidate in the general election, called the settlements “the beginning of a new era in politics.”

“A federal judge has approved our first settlement agreements — making Burlington and Middlesex counties the first to permanently halt ‘county line’ voting. Let’s build momentum across all counties so NJ gets the fair vote it deserves.”

» READ MORE: Andy Kim battles Tammy Murphy and the Machine in the race to replace Senator Bob Menendez. Drama in Jersey every weekend. (Starting March 2024)

While Kim’s lawsuit was technical, it ended decades of partisan politics in New Jersey that allowed party leaders and delegates to county conventions to endorse candidates for different positions. Candidates were then grouped together, rather than by position, in a position that was proven to receive first-ballot votes.

Kim, running against Tammy Murphy and the powerful machine of her husband, Gov. Phil Murphy, went all out, challenging the entire “lines” system as unconstitutional in her federal lawsuit.

Meanwhile, during the primary, Kim went county by county to challenge Murphy before county convention delegates, although not every county chose its candidates in a public vote. She ultimately withdrew from the race before the primary because Kim had several surprise victories.

Kim, a three-term member of Congress from South Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District, will now face Republican Curtis Bashaw, a Cape May hotelier and developer, in the November election.

Kim and Bashaw are running to succeed former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, who resigned last month after being convicted of corruption.

Although many had urged Murphy, a Democrat, to appoint Kim to the vacant seat, the governor appointed his former chief of staff, George Helmy, to serve until Nov. 27, when the winner of the November election will be declared. Helmy is currently the only Arab American in the U.S. Senate. The registration in New Jersey strongly favors Kim, a Democrat.

The race has become a symbol of New Jersey’s entrenched system of Democratic machine politics, though some have defended the district system as a way to gain popularity without a lot of money. But it has been more often criticized for giving unfair advantages to candidates chosen by district party leaders through different methods, rules and transparency.

In the settlement in the Burlington County case, County Clerk Joanne Schwartz, named as a defendant in the lawsuit, agreed that she would not prepare any primary election ballots that were designed by columns and rows rather than by the position they were seeking.

Ballots may not determine candidates’ positions based on “drawing votes among candidates for another position.”

Ballots can also no longer list candidates on so-called “Siberia ballots,” which, the settlement said, “have an inconsistent breakdown of other candidates running for the same position.”

It also prohibits other voting scenarios, such as placing one candidate below another candidate while the remaining candidates for that position are “listed horizontally” or, conversely, placing a candidate next to another candidate for the same position “where the remaining candidates are listed vertically.”

Candidates may not be placed next to each other on ballot papers if this means that candidates for different positions are placed in the same column or row on the ballot paper.

If a drawing of lots is held for voting places, the official must ensure that “each candidate running for the same office has an equal chance of being placed first in the ballot.”

All voting, both by mail and at polling stations, will be organized by office numbers, not by party support.

The judge will retain jurisdiction “for the purpose of ensuring compliance,” the settlement stated.