New Jersey Sample Ballots for November 4, 2025

Posted on by September 19, 2025
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Here is a sample ballot for the November 4, 2025 New Jersey election. It is from Monmouth County. Almost all New Jersey counties are continuing to use the same discriminatory ballot format that was enjoined in New Jersey primaries. Note that the Democratic Party column and the Republican Party column each have that party’s name in big print. But the columns that have other nominees are headed with “Nomination by Petition”, a label that conveys no political meaning.

Also the same column that has the Socialist Workers Party candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor also includes an independent candidate for County Clerk, even though the two sets of candidates have nothing to do with each other.

Here is a very similar Bergen County ballot. Here is a Cumberland County ballot, also similar except that the Libertarian candidates are in the third column.

By contrast, here is a Gloucester County ballot, which does not have party columns and prints all party labels in the same size font.

Opponents of New Missouri U.S. House Districts Begin Referendum Petition

Posted on by September 19, 2025
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Missouri House Bill 1, the bill to redraw the U.S. House districts, still hasn’t been signed by Governor Mike Kehoe. Meanwhile, opponents of the bill have submitted the paperwork to begin circulating a referendum petition against the bill. If opponents get enough signatures, the bill can’t take effect until after voters vote on it in 2026. See this story.

Mississippi State Senator Jeremy England Will Introduce a Bill to Restore the Initiative

Posted on by September 18, 2025
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According to this story, next year Mississippi State Senator Jeremy England will introduce a bill to restore the statewide initiative process. Mississippi had the initiative in the past, but in 2021 the State Supreme Court said it was fundamentally flawed because it specified a certain number of signatures from all five U.S. House districts, but Mississippi no longer had five districts.

Eleventh Circuit Stays Order of U.S. District Court that Enjoined Florida’s Residency Requirement for Initiative Circulators

Posted on by September 18, 2025
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On September 9, the Eleventh Circuit voted 2-1 to stay the order of the U.S. District Court that enjoined a new Florida residency requirement for initiative petitioners. The vote was 2-1. The majority consists of Judges Elizabeth L. Branch and Barbara Lagoa, Trump appointees. The dissent is by Judge Nancy Abudu, a Biden appointee. Florida Decides Healthcare v Byrd, 25-12370.

This result is shocking, because residency requirements for petitioners have been struck down in so many states. Both the majority and the dissent list the decisions of U.S. Courts of Appeals, but they don’t mention the many cases decided in U.S. District Courts.

The majority say the new Florida residency requirement is likely constitutional, although that has not yet been formally decided. Here is the order.

Here is a newspaper story about the case.

Here is a copy of the law. House Bill 1205 (2025).

Federal Government Sues Oregon and Maine to Obtain Lists of Registered Voters

Posted on by September 18, 2025
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On September 16, the federal government sued Oregon and Maine because those states have refused to submit an unredacted list of its registered voters to the U.S. Department of Justice. The federal government says it suspects Oregon and Maine are violating the National Voting Rights Act (NVRA) by not keeping its list of voters cleared of ineligible voters.

The Oregon case is USA v State of Oregon, 6:25cv-1666. Here is the Complaint.
The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai, a Biden appointee.

The Maine case is USA v Bellows, 1:25cv-468. Here is the Complaint. It is assigned to Magistrate Karen Frink Wolf. Magistrates are not appointed by presidents.