![]() ![]() In 2020, with New Jersey an epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, Governor Phil Murphy issued an executive order for the primary election to be conducted by mail. Historically, most New Jersey residents have voted on election day, using voting machines. The 2020 primary provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the impact of the county line on election outcomes. And, in both cases, the incumbent who won the primary had also received the party endorsement and the county line in the county that decided the election. In both cases, they lost to other incumbents, following redistricting that eliminated one of their districts. Only two congressional incumbents have lost a primary in New Jersey in the last fifty years. The county line may provide a substantial electoral advantage in congressional elections as well. In New York State, for example, twenty-two state legislative incumbents lost primary elections through 2018 and additional ones lost in 2020. Although incumbents generally win reelection, that advantage is rarely so absolute. CWA found that no state legislative incumbent on the line had lost a primary election in New Jersey between 20. Ī recent Communications Workers of America (CWA) analysis suggests that the county line has a significant impact on voter behavior. This results in voters not realizing that some positions are contested or, conversely, disqualifying their vote by mistakenly voting for too many candidates for a given position. Most critically, spreading candidates across multiple columns or rows and placing extra columns or rows between them, makes it much harder for voters to determine which candidates are running for each office. Senator, or Governor, at the top of the line and the inclusion of candidates for most or all of the offices on the ballot.ĭesigning primary ballots in this way violates important rules of good ballot design. The county line is further advantaged by the placement of better-known candidates, such as those running for President, U.S. This ballot design encourages voters to pick the candidates on the county line because they are easy to find and visually distinct. House of Representatives.įigure 1: Monmouth County 4th Congressional District 2020 Democratic primary ballot. ![]() Columns four and five each include a single candidate for the U.S. Column three includes a candidate for President and his delegates. Senate and two candidates for County Freeholder. Column two includes a candidate for the U.S. There is no obvious logic as to why each of the non-endorsed candidates is in a particular column. The remaining six candidates are scattered across the other four, mostly empty, columns. The seven county line candidates are in column one. Candidates not on the county line are placed in other columns or rows, sometimes far away from the county line candidates.įigure 1 shows a 2020 New Jersey Democratic primary ballot from Monmouth County. The county line generally receives prime location in one of the first columns or rows on the ballot. These groups of county party endorsed candidates are referred to as the “county line” or the “party line,” because they are presented on the ballot as a vertical or horizontal line of names, with a candidate included for every office. In contrast, nineteen of New Jersey’s twenty-one counties organize their primary ballots around a group of candidates endorsed by either the Democratic or Republican Party. ![]() This makes it easy for voters to determine which candidates are running for each office. Other states organize their primary ballots around the electoral position being sought, such as Senator or Governor, with candidates listed beneath or immediately to the right of each electoral position. New Jersey primary ballots are unlike those of any other state. Candidates’ share of the vote varied by as much as 50 percentage points, based on whether or not they were on the county line. The impact of the county line appeared to be greatest in races that did not involve an incumbent. The county line also increases voter confusion, contributing to overvotes and undervotes. ![]() The results suggest that structuring ballots around the county line impacts election outcomes by steering voters towards specific candidates. House of Representatives and the Democratic and Republican contests for the U.S. The brief examines ten primary races – four Democratic and four Republican contests for the U.S. This policy brief assesses the impact of New Jersey’s unique primary ballot design, which structures ballots around the county line, on the state’s 2020 primary election outcomes. To read a PDF version of the full report, click here. ![]()
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