A new draft bill outlines proposed changes to how primary election ballots are designed in New Jersey. It introduces several key updates, including allowing candidates to group themselves with running mates using brackets and using a style called “office block” for ballot layouts. These changes aim to give county clerks more flexibility in designing ballots.
One option in the bill is “ballot rotation,” which mixes up the order of candidate names to make the process fairer. However, this can only happen if all members of a political party’s Board of Election in a county agree. Ballot rotation would ensure each candidate’s name appears first an equal number of times across different districts, removing any advantage based on placement.
The bill also ends the practice known as “Ballot Siberia,” where candidates are placed in hard-to-find locations on the ballot. Now, all candidates seeking the same office will be grouped together.
Other proposed updates include:
- Extending ballot slogans from six words to seven.
- Allowing candidates to label themselves as incumbents.
- Standardizing ballot designs with clear fonts (12-point size) and a mix of upper- and lowercase letters.
- Letting clerks choose whether to arrange ballots horizontally or vertically, with clear distinctions between office blocks.
This is still a draft, and changes could be made before the Assembly votes on December 19. It’s also unclear if the State Senate will approve the plan.
This version keeps the details clear and easier to follow!