BACKGROUND

New Jersey, in nineteen of its twenty-one counties, designs its primary ballots in a unique manner. All other states—and the two remaining New Jersey counties—organize their primary election ballots by the office sought (i.e., President, Vice President, and so on), with all candidates for that office listed side-by-side.  

The nineteen New Jersey counties being sued here, on the other hand, organize ballots instead by grouping, or “bracketing,” candidates together based on local endorsements. Accordingly, all the candidates endorsed by county party officials appear together in one column or row, hence the name “the county line.” Further, under New Jersey law, county party officials can place this “county line” at or near the top of the ballot.  

The combined result of these practices is a distinctive visual effect in which county party officials’ preferred candidates appear in one neat column or row at or near the top of the ballot, with all the other candidates strewn across the ballot in a haphazard manner with significant white space between them. Plaintiffs argue, and ELC agrees, that this design unjustifiably burdens the right to vote and therefore violates the U.S. Constitution.  

(Monmouth County ballot, Complaint ¶ 92)