Appeals court leaves hold on New Jersey’s primary ballot system in place

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal appeals court upheld a lower court judge’s ruling putting a temporary halt on New Jersey’s primary ballot design, widely seen as helping those with party establishment support.

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia denied an appeal by county clerks seeking to halt U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi’s recent order preliminarily stopping how the officials design primary ballots. The appeals court ruling means Quraishi’s order stays in place ahead of the June 4 primary.

The higher court’s ruling on Wednesday is just the latest in a flurry of developments affecting how the state’s elections are carried out. Quraishi clarified over the weekend that his order applies only to the Democratic primary, not the Republican.

The suit was brought by Democratic Rep. Andy Kim as part of his campaign to succeed indicted Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez. Kim and two other Democratic candidates sued in federal court to block New Jersey’s so-called county line primary system.

New Jersey is the only state to set its primary ballots in that way, which groups candidates who have won the county party’s backing in a single column, and listing others in discrete places elsewhere on the ballot. Kim — and many people in New Jersey politics — contend that such a system of bracketing party-backed candidates gives them an unfair advantage and relegates other candidates to “ballot Siberia.”

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