New Jersey is the only state in which only the Democratic and Republican Parties have met the state’s definition of “political party” since before World War II. On October 13, the Green, Libertarian and Conservative Parties of New Jersey filed a lawsuit in state court against New Jersey’s definition of “party”. The suit is called Green Party of NJ v State, superior court, Mercer County. New Jersey defines “party” as a group that polled 10% of all the votes cast for lower house of the state legislature, in the last election. definition is so restrictive, New Jersey is the only state in which only the Democratic and Republican Parties have been qualified parties, in the entire period since World War II. The case is called Green Party of New Jersey v State and is in state court in Trenton.
I lived in NJ through most of the 90’s, and recall that a group called the Conservative Party of New Jersey came close one year, but still fell short.
As a native New Yorker, I always found the contrast between the two states rather stark in terms of ballot access. New York makes it relatively easy to attain party status (50,000 votes for governor) while its arcane ballot access rules require legions of lawyers to navigate. In New Jersey, ballot access requirements are minimal (for example, 200 signatures for Congress vs. 1250 in New York–and the state will provide you with petition forms!), while party status is next to impossible.
My position on this is much as it is for a lot of other issues raised here: I think the NJ law is too restrictive, but it is the job of the legislature and not the judiciary to change it.