Sanders will stay on the July 7 ballot in New Jersey

Bernie Sanders intends to remain on the ballot in the July 7 New Jersey primary election.

Delegate candidates who filed to run on his slate will remain on the ballot unless they proactively decide to drop out of the race.

Sanders can win delegates if he receives 15% of the vote in individual delegate districts, or later if he wins at least 15% statewide.

This is not unusual, although Sanders’ exit comes three months before New Jersey Democrat vote.

Ted Cruz and John Kasich – and their delegates — remained on the 2016 New Jersey primary ballot after they had already dropped out of the race.  Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum dropped out in 2012 after the New Jersey filing deadline.  They and their delegate slates were not removed from the ballots.

New Jersey held their 2008 primary on Super Tuesday on February 5.  Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson had already withdrew from the race, but there names remained on the GOP primary ballot.   Joe Biden, John Edwards, Bill Richardson and Dennis Kucinich dropped a week before the primary and their names were still on the ballot.

A total of 84 delegates and nine alternates will be selected in the June primary election from 40 delegate districts formed by combining two legislative districts.  The state party will pick an additional 28 at-large delegates, fourteen Pledged Party Leader and Election Official (PLEO) delegates, and two alternate at-large delegates at a meeting on June 13.  New Jersey also has 20 automatic party leader and elected official delegates.