MANHATTAN (CN) — U.S. Representative Andy Kim says all but two county clerks in New Jersey unfairly designed ballots that favor candidates endorsed by their party and visually shunt aside others running for the same positions, providing an unfair advantage.
“The broken politics in New Jersey needs to end once and for all,” Kim tweeted Monday minutes after filing the suit. “49 states use fair ballots; it’s time NJ does too.”
Kim, a Democrat currently representing New Jersey's 3rd Congressional District, says in the suit filed Monday in New Jersey federal court that the ballot-placement system used by 19 of the 21 counties in New Jersey is rife with nepotism and potential corruption.
Kim is joined in the suit by Sarah Schoengood and Carolyn Rush, candidates for the House of Representatives in New Jersey’s Third and Second Congressional Districts, respectively.
Under New Jersey's ballot-placement system, county parties are able to endorse a candidate and then place that candidate on the primary ballot line ahead of competitors, even if that candidate is polling at much weaker numbers than the competitors. Most other states use office-block ballots that list candidates alphabetically.
Candidates who are not given the prime placement are ushered to the side of the ballot, which is sometimes not clear to voters.
“Such an anomaly would only make sense in New Jersey, where the vast majority of county clerks design the primary election ballot with unique features, unknown to any other state, that provide a substantial advantage to certain candidates over others,” the candidates say in the 79-page suit.
Kim is running to unseat Senator Bob Menendez — who was indicted last year on various corruption charges and has said he would not resign, though he has not committed to seeking reelection — alongside Tammy Murphy, wife of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.
Kim noted in the suit that he has been cast by the media and by the Democratic Party as an "underdog" in his race for the U.S. Senate against the state's first lady, but said polling indicates otherwise.
Fairleigh Dickinson University’s poll in the primary race has Kim ahead of Murphy by 32% to 20%, while several other polls indicate Kim is leading Murphy. Kim’s internal polling claims he is up 23 points against Murphy.
Kim and Murphy have been in a dogfight attempting to get the endorsements of county Democratic party bosses, who can list the endorsed candidate on the “ballot line” in the coming June 4 primary.
Studies cited by the candidates in the suit indicate that being given the primary position on a primary ballot could swing the race significantly, resulting in not just an unfair but unconstitutional advantage.
"Unfair preferential treatment and gamesmanship that regularly impacts election results and sometimes impacts outcomes, are not features that belong anywhere near a government-sponsored ballot," the candidates wrote.
The plaintiffs claims that those who are not bracketed with endorsed candidates and listed in separate columns are given less visual weight on the ballot and sometimes appear to be associated with candidates that have nothing to do with them. Candidates like themselves, they say, are "harder to find on the ballot, harder to know who they are running against and/or for what office, and may otherwise appear less legitimate on the ballot than the county line candidates."
Schoengood and Rush also say that they are likely be unbracketed candidates, having already missed party endorsements, and will possibly be listed in "Ballot Siberia," giving them significant disadvantages to candidates on the county line.
Over the weekend, Kim was quoted calling for proposed rule changes to the Hunterdon County convention — which would have allowed any candidate who received 30% of the votes instead of just the leader to obtain the “ballot line” — “insane” and a suspicious move likely designed to help his opponent.
Kim already has obtained the endorsement of four counties. While only one county so far has come out in favor of Murphy, she has gained myriad endorsements from key state Democratic leaders, which critics say are due to her husband’s influence as governor.
A spokeswoman for the Murphy campaign called Kim's criticism hypocritical.
”Andy Kim doesn't have a problem with the county line system, he has a problem with the idea of losing county lines — as he is perfectly happy to participate in the process when he wins, and he has benefited from the lines in every other election he's run,” said Alexandra Altman.
Kim received national attention after the U.S. Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, when he was photographed helping to clean up broken furniture, trash and clothing strewn about the building following the chaos.
Labor leader Patricia Campos-Medina and community organizer Larry Hamm also are in the running for Menendez’s seat.
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