New Jersey’s unique ballots have come under scrutiny for decades for claims of voter suppression and manipulation. Now a high-profile lawsuit and a surprisingly competitive Senate race have thrown the state’s ballot into the public eye.
Nineteen of New Jersey’s 21 counties use the “county-line” ballot system. The county line places party-backed candidates in one row or column with other candidates placed somewhere else on the ballot in what is sometimes called “ballot Siberia.” Studies confirm that candidates in the county line are more likely to be elected.
Patricia Campos-Medina, a Democrat running against Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) and New Jersey’s first lady Tammy Murphy to unseat Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), has fought against the county line for the majority of her political career in New Jersey.
“New Jersey is designed to manipulate voters, to confuse, to think that those
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