If you’ve seen one state, you’ve seen one state

New Jersey has a certain way of doing things, but there are other options available if the Garden State ever wants to mix things up:

* Resign to Run: Some states require elected officials to resign their current posts if their election to another office would create a vacancy.  Example: Tom Kean, Jr. would have had to resign from the State Senate to run for Congress in 2020, so that voters can elect a new state senator at the same time.

* Jungle Primaries:  California and Washington have non-partisan blanket primaries where the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation.  Louisiana has no primary election; instead, the top two-candidates advance to a runoff only if the winner fails to win 50% of the vote. In 2017, Republican Kim Guadagno finished just 3,596 votes ahead of Jim Johnson, who won 22% of the vote in the Democratic primary.

* Ranked-Choice Voting: Maine, as well as certain local elections in six other states, permits voters to rank their preferences in a field of candidates.  If the top-vote getter doesn’t reach 50%, the candidate with the least votes is dropped that that person’s votes are transferred to their second choice until someone gets a majority.  State Sen. Andrew Zwicker has introduced a bill to adopt this system in New Jersey.  Good luck explaining this to Superior Court Judges who often misunderstand the rest of the state’s election laws.

* Same Day Voter Registration: Sixteen states currently allow Election Day Registration, with two more adding same day registration before the next presidential election.  North Carolina allows it for early voting, but not on Election Day.  Proof of residency is required.  The Star-Ledger editorial board advocated for this in 2015, which probably explains why New Jersey doesn’t allow citizens to register on Election Day.

* Expanded Voter Registration: New Jersey is one of 12 states that do not have online voter registration, and 21 states have registration deadlines that are later than New Jersey.  North Dakota is the only state that doesn’t require voter registration – just bring an ID.

* Longer Assembly Terms: Five states elect lower house legislators to four year terms.  Members of the New Jersey State Assembly were elected to one-year terms until 1949.

* Open Primaries: In 19 states, voters are free to participate in the primary election of their choice.  New Jersey is one of 9 states that permits an unaffiliated voter to declare their party preference on primary day but does not allow cross-over primary voting.  Some states have open presidential primaries but closed for other offices.

* September Primaries: Just 13 states hold their primary elections before New Jersey, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June.  New Jersey used to hold their primaries in September, moving them to June in 1968 — although in some years they were held in April.  Hawaii holds their primaries on Saturdays.

* None of the Above: Nevada allows voters to proactively cast their votes for “none of these candidates,” although in general elections the option typically gets picked by less than 3% of voters statewide. None of These Candidates outpolled those on the ballot in four statewide primaries since 1978.

* Term Limits: Fifteen states have term limits for members of the state legislature and six additional states have either overturned them or repealed them. Until 1947, New Jersey elected governors to a three year-term and the State Constitution prohibited them from seeking re-election.  Now governors may serve two four-year terms.

* Single-member Assembly districts: New Jersey is one of 10 states to have multi-member legislative districts in the lower house, and one of six states to elect one senator and two lower house legislators from a single district.  Maryland elects one senator and three lower house members per districts, while New Hampshire, Vermont and West Virginia have different upper and lower house legislative districts.  It would take a constitutional amendment to draw New Jersey as 80 single-member Assembly districts, something that could end the constant bickering between many running mates.

* Lieutenant Governors: Eleven states, including New Jersey, allow gubernatorial nominees to pick their running mate after the primary and run on a single ticket in the general election.  Gubernatorial candidates in seven states run on a single ticket with their running mate in the primary and general elections.  In eight states, including New York and Pennsylvania, Lt. Governor candidates run in a separate primary but then are linked together on the general election ballot with their party’s nominee for governor.  Seventeen states have separate primary and general elections for governor.  The New Jersey Legislature mulled all these different options before creating the office of Lt. Governor in 2005.

* Lt. Governor runs the Senate: In 25 states, the Lt. Governor presides over the State Senate; in 7 states, the Lt. Governor appoints the Senate committees, and in 14 states, the Lt. Governor votes to break a tie in the State Senate.  It is not immediately clear whether life would be any different for Gov. Phil Murphy if Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver was running the New Jersey Senate.

* Constitutional Officers: New Jersey is one of six states that do not directly any elect constitutional officers. 44 states directly elect an attorney general.  Some states elect as many as 10 statewide officeholders and one-quarter of states elect between 4 and six statewide officers.  Joe Hart, a 75-year-old former state legislator, has won three statewide elections for Arizona State Mine Inspector.

* Judicial Elections:  New Jersey is one of 12 states where no judges are elected – although it could be argued that county surrogates are a form of judicial elections.  Voters in 8 states elect Supreme Court Justices in partisan elections; Michigan Supreme Court candidates are nominated at party conventions but then run on the ballot without party affiliation.  In Ohio, candidates for the Supreme Court run in primaries, but are then listed on the general election ballot without identifying their party.  In 20 states, voters elect trial court judges in partisan elections.  Paid for by the Committee to Elect Wally Timpone.

*Judicial Retention Elections: In 21 states, voters get a chance to vote yes or no on the question of a judge keeping their job after a certain number of years.  In 1986, New Jersey Chief Justice Robert Wilentz kept his job after the State Senate voted to keep him 21-19.

* Filing Fees: In 34 states, candidates for the state legislature are required to pay some sort of filing fee to get on the ballot.  It ranges from $6 in New Hampshire to $7,500 in Arkansas.  New Jersey is one of 16 states that require no fee.  The filing fee to run for office in Florida is 3% of the annual salary for the position the candidate is seeking.

* Coroner Elections: Voters in more than 1,200 counties in 24 states elect their coroner.  New Jersey stopped electing coroners in the 1950’s.  In typical New Jersey fashion, the job was eliminated for nearly a decade before every county got around to formally eliminating the position.  Some towns, including one in Vermont, still elect dogcatchers.

A version of this story first ran in May 2019.