Senate prepared to move ballot design bill with some changes

The New Jersey State Senate is preparing to move forward on legislation to mandate office block ballots in the primary election that allows candidates running together for the same office to be bracketed together, but with some minor modifications to the bill passed last year by the Assembly, according to a draft version of the bill obtained by the New Jersey Globe.

The Senate version eliminates certain font requirements and requires candidates to have a ballot position number.  More importantly, the Senate proposes removing a solid line between candidates bracketed together on the ballot.  The bill also protects the registered owners of ballot slogans.

And in a new move, the Senate bill eliminates the direct election of Democratic and Republican State Committee members in primary elections; instead, State Committee members will be elected by a vote of the county committee.

“All spacing, ruling, and delineation of candidates shall be consistent and uniform within each office block and across all office blocks included on each ballot, so as not to create a separation or visual distinction between the names of any candidate,” the amended version states.

The bill is expected to be introduced on Thursday and considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 20, giving the public one week to review the proposed language.

New Jersey’s electoral system was thrown on its head earlier this year when federal judge Zahid Quraishi ruled the county line, which gave party leaders the ability to grant an advantageous ballot slot to endorsees, was likely unconstitutional. Quraishi ordered Democrats to hold a line-free primary election earlier this year.

The Assembly bill passed 70-1 in December; at the time, Senate President Nicholas Scutari said he expected to fine-tune the bill.  If the Senate passes the amended version, it must go back to the Assembly for approval before heading to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk.