New Jersey GOP, Dems Launch Groundbreaking Ballot Design Committee

NEW JERSEY — Republicans and Democrat lawmakers in New Jersey are teaming up to brainstorm about the future of primary ballots in the state.

On Tuesday, a New Jersey Assembly bipartisan committee gathered in Trenton for the first of a series of hearings that will take place across the state. The goal? To help design new primary ballots together – for the good of the state’s voters.

Earlier this year, three Congressional candidates running for the Democratic Party nomination in their districts filed a lawsuit with the goal of ending the use of New Jersey's primary ballot design – commonly referred to as the “county or party line.”

Previously, 19 counties in the state organized their primary ballots around a slate of party-endorsed candidates and put them in a prominent place. As a result, voters sometimes have a hard time determining which candidates are running for each office, advocates say, allegedly giving a huge advantage to those who land on the county line – and exiling the others to “ballot Siberia.”

In May, a federal judge issued a court injunction banning the controversial practice on 2024 Democratic Party primary ballots – but not Republican Party ballots. The new layout replaces the old style with an “office block” style ballot that is organized around the position up for election, not political parties.

Since the judge’s decision, county clerks in several jurisdictions have been reaching settlements and agreeing to transition to office block ballots.

Recently, Assembly speaker Craig Coughlin and minority leader John DiMaio called for the creation of a special committee to help craft a new ballot layout.

Here’s what the group will be doing:

“The committee will be tasked with gathering expert testimony on ballot design throughout the United States, as well as reviewing lessons learned by elections officials during the 2024 Democratic primary and in preparation for the 2024 general election in New Jersey. The goal of the committee will be to gather testimony, hear from the public, and study legislative changes that could bring New Jersey’s ballots into compliance with the court order.”

NEW COMMITTEE HOLDS FIRST MEETING

This week – for the first time in three decades – the Assembly convened a bipartisan committee with co-chairs from each party, which has been tasked with making recommendations on the design of ballots used in elections.

The committee is made up of 12 members and has co-chairs from both parties: Benjie Wimberly (Bergen, Passaic) for the Democrats and Al Barlas (Bergen, Essex, Passaic) for the Republicans.

The Democratic members are: Assemblyman Dan Hutchison (Atlantic, Camden, Gloucester), Assemblywoman Ellen Park (Bergen), Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin (Essex, Hudson), Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (Hunterdon, Mercer) and Assemblyman Gabriel Rodriguez (Hudson).

The Republican members are: Assemblyman Michael Inganamort (Sussex, Morris, Warren), Assemblywoman Michele Matsikoudis (Morris, Somerset, Union), Assemblyman Antwan L. McClellan (Cape May, Atlantic, Cumberland), Assemblyman Brian E. Rumpf (Ocean) and Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger (Monmouth).

It’s a rare occasion, Barlas noted: the last time the Assembly had members from both parties chairing a committee was in 1992, when the Task Force on Auto Theft was created.

Things are already moving forward, Barlas said.

On Monday, the full Assembly unanimously passed the resolution (AR167) establishing the committee and it convened its first hearing on Tuesday. The panel heard from experts on nationwide ballot design and county election officials to discuss New Jersey’s voting infrastructure.

“Integrity in our elections is of utmost importance to everyone, and that is evidenced by the fact that this is a truly bipartisan committee,” Barlas said.

“We start here today on this process to get as much information as possible so that we can tackle these issues together and come to a bipartisan solution that is best for the voting public and our democracy,” the lawmaker said.

“Ballot design is more than just the layout of the ballot, more than just blocks and columns and rows, landscape versus portrait,” Barlas continued, adding that technology and the capability of the state’s existing election infrastructure is “very important.”

And it may not be just primary elections that see ballot changes in the future, he suggested.

“Just because a court case related to primaries brought us here, does not mean we shouldn’t take a look at all of our elections,” Barlas said. “Certainly, fairness should apply to every election held in our state.”

More public meetings are expected to follow, lawmakers say.

“We want to make sure that everyone has their voice heard, so we plan to hold multiple open meetings – including a virtual one – to accomplish that,” Wimberly said during an opening statement.

• See Related: When New Jersey Dems, GOP Agree (Going Beyond Blue And Red)

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.