New Jersey is the only state that has discriminatory ballot format in primaries. Candidates endorsed by the county party organization get the best spot on the primary ballot in that county, in 19 of the 21 counties. On February 26, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate filed a federal lawsuit against the ballot format. Kim v Hanlon, 3:24cv-1098. Here is the Complaint.
Another federal lawsuit is already pending on this subject, Conforti v Hanlon. It was filed in 2020 and is still in the U.S. District Court. Discovery is taking place through July 28, 2024. UPDATE: see this Politico story. Thanks to David Sturrock for the link.
The Ken plan would solve this problem.
I disagree. I think the Bob plan is way better.
What’s the process in the other two counties?
I’ve heard the Max plan is the best. I don’t know what that is, or how I’d go about finding out.
IMO, it’s okay for parties to determine the positioning of candidates on their own ballots. Each party should be free to try different orderings.
Does anyone have a link to any of these plans?
There are all sorts of ways that a party could order the candidates on its primary ballots:
1. incumbents first
2. Party endorsed candidates first
3. Earlier filed candidates first
4. Most numerous nomination signatures first
5. Most endorsement votes at state convention or caucus first
6. Random drawing
7. Alphabetical order
8. DOB order
Let each party decide for itself.
The all write in blank federal ballot does not require any candidate order, and it’s already being used by voters abroad.
And, finally, a party could also order its candidates by auction in which each candidate is ranked by its contributions to the party.
It could rank them on sex appeal. Or, for that matter, performance.
Back before we had state printed ballots, each party would pay the cost of printing its own ballots, with the names of their candidates pre-printed on their own ballots. The logical extension of this principle should be that candidates who want their names printed on a primary ballot should pay a fee for the opportunity, and the party itself, plus any independents and non-primary minor party candidates, should pay to have the names of their nominees listed on the general election ballots. States and parties could charge premiums for higher listings on the ballots.
GEE– BALLOT ORDER AFFECTS RESULTS ???
HALF BALLOTS A TO Z
HALF BALLOTS Z TO A