Kim wins: Judge allows removal of New Jersey county line in upcoming election

After a yearslong fight and high-profile legal battle, New Jersey’s county line will no longer stand as U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi granted Rep. Andy Kim’s (D-NJ) request for a preliminary injunction.

Quraishi, who oversaw the case, effectively overturned the county line in Kim’s lawsuit against 19 county clerks who use the line. The county line places party-backed candidates on an organizational line, giving them an advantage over other candidates whose names are placed in “ballot Siberia.”

“The integrity of the democratic process for a primary election is at stake and the remedy Plaintiffs are seeking is extraordinary,” 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.”

The rare decision right now applies to this year’s election up and down the ballot in all races from local to federal.

“Today’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,” Kim said in a statement.

“While fixing this unfair ballot system is a massive step forward towards perfecting our democracy, there is still work to be done. Both in New Jersey and nationwide, we need to regain the trust of the voters we serve,” Kim said.

In his 49-page opinion, the arguments put forth by Kim and his two co-plaintiffs said the county line gives some candidates an unfair advantage, violating the Constitution’s elections clause. The Constitution’s elections clause prohibits states from influencing elections in federal offices.

“Plaintiffs’ evidence is sufficient to make their showing of a likelihood they will succeed in establishing that the Bracketing Structure and ballot placement is improperly influencing primary election outcomes by virtue of the layout on the primary ballots,” Quraishi said.

County clerks intend to appeal the decision. They tried to make a case earlier that New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy’s exit from the race changed the circumstances of the lawsuit. Quraishi did not agree with that point.

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“Defendants’ arguments that the changed political landscape has eliminated Kim’s associational harm is specious at best,” Quraishi said. “The Court reiterates that Kim’s harms are not alleviated because his main opponent withdrew from the election.”

The line has kept well-connected New Jerseyans in power for decades. Studies show candidates placed on the line have up to a 38-point advantage over candidates not on the county line. If elected to the U.S. Senate, Kim will be the first person from South Jersey elected to the Senate in over 20 years.