Primary elections in New Jersey
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Primary elections allow voters to determine which candidates compete in the general election and can be nonpartisan or partisan. In partisan primaries, voters choose the candidates they prefer for a political party to nominate in the general election.
The laws governing primary elections vary from state to state and can even vary within states by locality and political party. For example, only registered party members are allowed to vote inclosed primaries, while registered party members and unaffiliated voters are allowed to vote insemi-closed primaries, and all voters are allowed to vote inopen primaries.
Primary elections also vary by the way their outcomes are determined.Majority systems require the winning candidate to receive at least fifty percent of the votes cast, whileplurality systems do not. Intop-two primaries,top-four primaries, andblanket primaries, all candidates are listed on the same ballot, regardless of partisan affiliation.
See the sections below for general information on the use of primary elections in the United States and specific information on the types of primaries held in New Jersey:
- BackgroundThe different types of primary election participation models used in the United States, and details about methods to determine the outcomes of primaries.Read more
- Primary election systems used in New JerseyPrimary election systems used in New Jersey, including primaries for congressional and state-level offices.Read more
- State legislation and ballot measuresState legislation and ballot measures relevant to primary election policy in New Jersey.Read more
Background
In general, there are two broad criteria by which primary elections can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction:
1.Rules of participation: In jurisdictions that conduct partisan primaries, who can vote in a party's primary? Is participation limited to registered party members, or can other eligible voters (such as unaffiliated voters or voters belonging to other parties) participate? In general, there are three basic types of primary election participation models:open primaries,closed primaries, andsemi-closed primaries. Several states also use atop-two primary or a variant of that system.
- Inclosed primaries only registered party members are allowed to vote.
- Insemi-closed primaries, registered party members and unaffiliated voters are allowed to vote.
- Inopen primaries, all voters are allowed to vote.
- Intop-two primaries,top-four primaries, andblanket primaries, all candidates are listed on the same ballot, regardless of partisan affiliation and voters may vote for candidates from more than one party.
2.Vote requirements: What share of the total votes cast does a candidate have to receive in order to advance to the general election? Methods for determining primary election outcomes includeplurality voting systems ansmajority voting systems. Two states, California and Washington, usetop-two primaries, while one, Alaska, uses atop-four primary. Both are plurality systems. Maine useranked-choice voting for some primaries, which is a majority system.
Primary election systems used in New Jersey
Congressional and state-level elections
New Jersey state law provides for closed primaries, meaning that a voter must be registered as a party member in order to participate in that party's primary. A previously unaffiliated voter can participate in the primary of their choice by affiliating with that party at the polls on the day of the primary. Otherwise, a voter must indicate their party preference (e.g., via an updated voter registration) no later than the 55th day preceding the primary in order to vote in that party's primary. Winners in primary elections are determined via plurality vote.[1][2][3]
In 23 states, at least one political party utilizes closed primaries to nominate partisan candidates for congressional and state-level (e.g. state legislators, governors, etc.) offices. In 19 states, at least one party utilizes open primaries to nominate partisan candidates for these offices. In 12 states, at least one party utilizes semi-closed primaries. In 5 states, top-two primaries or a variation are used.[4] These state primaries are a separate entity and are not included in the totals for open, closed, or semi-closed primaries.
The table below lists New Jersey offices for which parties must conduct primary elections to nominate their candidates.
| Office | Number of seats |
|---|---|
| Governor of New Jersey | 1 |
| United States Senators | 2 |
| State legislators | 80 |
| Local officials | Varies by municipality |
County lines
In New Jersey, county parties have the ability to select the placement of a candidate's name on the ballot in their respective counties. The selection of the candidate can be determined by a full vote of the county party committee or at the discretion of the county party chairperson. In counties that use the process, positions up for election are listed in rows with the candidates running for those positions listed in columns. Oftentimes, the candidate endorsed by the county party will appear in the leftmost column, known as thecounty line, with remaining candidates appearing in columns to the right.[5]
State court blocks county line ballot design for Democratic primaries (2024)
On February 26, 2024, three Democratic candidates forU.S. Congress sued in federal court to eliminate New Jersey's county line primary ballot design.[6] According toPolitico: "The county line is New Jersey’s unique primary ballot design where party-backed candidates are placed in a single column or row from the highest office to the lowest. Candidates not endorsed by county parties are often placed less prominently on primary ballots. Candidates who are on the county line have been shown to have a significant electoral advantage."[7] Nineteen of New Jersey's 21 counties used the county line design at the time of the lawsuit.[7] Most jurisdictions in the United States use a ballot design that groups all candidates running for the same office in the same part of the ballot.
Among the plaintiffs in the challenge was Rep.Andy Kim (D) ofNew Jersey's 3rd Congressional District. At the time of the lawsuit, Kim was a candidate for theU.S. Senate seat held byBob Menendez (D).Sarah Schoengood (D) andCarolyn Rush (D), each a candidate for aU.S. House seat in New Jersey, joined Kim in the challenge. The filing named the election clerk in all 19 counties that used the county line system as defendants.[8]
The suit alleged that the county line ballot design violated theFirst and14th amendments of theU.S. Constitution, and said: "The system provides preferential ballot position for such candidates and displays them in a manner that nudges voters to select them, even when they otherwise might not."[8] A campaign spokesperson forTammy Murphy (D), who was a candidate forU.S. Senate but later dropped out of the race, criticized the lawsuit, saying "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."[6] Defendants in the case argued that there was not time to modify and print ballots before the April 20 deadline to send mail ballots for the upcoming primary, and that the system helped voters identify party supported candidates.[9]
On March 29, U.S. District JudgeZahid Quraishi issued a preliminary injunction blocking the use of the county line in theJune 4th Democratic Primary.[10] In the opinion, Quraishi wrote, "Mandatory injunctive relief is reserved only for the most unusual cases. Plaintiffs’ burden on this Motion is therefore particularly heavy. Nevertheless, the Court finds, based on this record, that Plaintiffs have met their burden and that this is the rare instance when mandatory relief is warranted.”[11] In a statement released on his campaign website, Kim said of the ruling that "(t)oday's decision is a victory for a fairer, more democratic politics in New Jersey. It's a victory built from the incredible grassroots work of activists across our state who saw an undemocratic system marginalizing the voices of voters, and worked tirelessly to fix it."[12] After the decision, clerks from three counties said they would not appeal the decision.[7]
Although the ruling did not apply to the Republican primary, the New Jersey County Republican Chairs Association submitted a brief defending the constitutionality of the county line ballot design.[7]
On April 3, theU.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals denied the remaining defendants' request to block the lower court's decision.[7] By the next day, clerks in all but two counties included in the lawsuit said they would not appeal the ruling, however the Camden County Democratic Committee (CCDC) and several other party committees continued their appeal.[9][13]
On April 15, New JerseyVicinage 3 Superior Court JudgeJohn E. Harrington denied a request for an injunction to block the use of county line ballots in the state's June 2024 Republican primaries. Four Republican congressional candidates brought the challenge after the March 29 ruling by Judge Quraishi that barred the use of the ballot design for state's June Democratic primaries. Judge Harrington reasoned that there was not enough time between the challenge and the scheduled primaries to grant the injunction, saying "It’s too comprehensive a change for this court do this now."[14][15]
On April 17, the Third Circuit issued a unanimous ruling upholding the lower court's decision to bar the use of the county line ballot design in the June Democratic primaries. According to reporting from the New Jersey Globe, in oral arguments "CCDC lawyer Bill Tambussi contended that the county line allows parties to exercise their constitutionally protected rights to associate with their preferred candidates and assist voters in finding those candidates."[13] In the ruling, judgeKent Jordan wrote "Nothing in the preliminary injunction prohibits the CCDC from including county parties’ slogans on the ballot, endorsing candidates, communicating those endorsements, or associating by any other constitutional means. The injunction simply means that the CCDC does not get to bracket its preferred candidates together on the ballot... Any harm to the state’s or the CCDC’s interests is outweighed by the burdens on the Plaintiffs’ associational rights.”[16]
On March 6, 2025, New Jersey Gov.Phil Murphy (D) signedA 5116 into law, abolishing the use of the county line ballot design and replacing it with a system that groups offices on the ballot into blocks of candidates and places a number next to the name of each candidate. The bill also allowed candidates running as a slate for an office with more than one open seat to appear together on the ballot. Kim, who waselected to theU.S. Senate in 2024, criticized the new bill, writing, "Almost exactly a year ago I testified in court to fix NJ’s broken ballot and make our politics more fair. The simple premise was to have every candidate treated exactly the same on the ballot. The bill signed today falls short of what voters deserve."[17][18] Democrats in theAssembly said in a statement, "The bill creates a fair ballot for all candidates, and it is in line with everything the legislature has done to protect and expand voting rights and ensure citizens’ trust our political process."[19]
State legislation and ballot measures
Recent legislation related to primary elections in New Jersey
The table below lists bills related to primary elections that have been introduced during (or carried over to) the current legislative session in New Jersey. The following information is included for each bill:
- State
- Bill number
- Official bill name or caption
- Most recent action date
- Legislative status
- Sponsor party
- Topics dealt with by the bill
Bills are organized by most recent action. The table displays up to 100 results. To view more bills, use the arrows in the upper-right corner. Clicking on a bill will open its page onBallotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which includes bill details and a summary.
Primary systems ballot measures
Since 2017, Ballotpedia has tracked no ballot measures relating to primary elections in New Jersey.
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑New Jersey Department of State, "N.J. Rev. Stat. § 19:23–45," accessed September 4, 2025
- ↑Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedregis - ↑New Jersey Department of State, "N.J. Rev. Stat. § 19:13-14," accessed September 15, 2025
- ↑Top-two primary systems, such as those utilized inCalifornia,Nebraska, andWashington, and variations of those systems, such as thetop-four system used inAlaska and themajority-vote system used inLouisiana, are sometimes classified as open primary systems because voter participation in such primaries is not tied to partisan affiliation. For the purposes of this article, these primaries are considered to be a separate entity. For more information about top-two primaries and their variations, seethis article.
- ↑New Jersey Policy Perspective, "Toeing the Line: New Jersey Primary Ballots Enable Party Insiders to Pick Winners," June 29, 2020
- ↑6.06.1northjersey.com, "Andy Kim sues to block NJ's line — the ballot positions for preferred candidates," February 26, 2024
- ↑7.07.17.27.37.4Politico, "Appeals panel denies NJ clerks’ request to block new ballot design, another win for Andy Kim," April 3, 2024
- ↑8.08.1northjersey.com, "Judge establishes timeline for Andy Kim's lawsuit over the NJ line. Here's what comes next," March 3, 2024
- ↑9.09.1The Philadelphia Inquirer, "A judge’s decision to block New Jersey ballot design that favors endorsed candidates is likely to stand — at least for now," April 4, 2024
- ↑Associated Press, "Federal judge blocks New Jersey ballot design, saying it favors party-backed candidates," March 29, 2024
- ↑Roll Call, "Judge blocks ballot design in New Jersey primary," March 29, 2024
- ↑Andy Kim for New Jersey, "Congressman Andy Kim Statement on Granting of Emergency Injunctive Relief Ending the County Line System in New Jersey," March 29, 2024
- ↑13.013.1New Jersey Globe, "Third Circuit upholds Quraishi’s county line ruling," April 17, 2024
- ↑New Jersey Globe, "State court judge says Republicans can keep their lines for ’24 primary," April 15, 2024
- ↑Democracy Docket, "New Jersey Judge Upholds County Line for 2024 GOP Primaries," April 16, 2024
- ↑United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, "Andy Kim v. Christine Hanlon No. 24-1594," April 17, 2024
- ↑X, "Andy Kim on March 6, 2025," accessed March 7, 2025
- ↑newjerseyglobe.com, "Murphy quietly signs primary ballot design bill," March 6, 2025
- ↑nj.com, "N.J. governor signs controversial primary ballot bill. Lawsuits loom." March 6, 2025
