New Jersey election ballots have long been designed to benefit the favored candidates of local political leaders. But now, in the midst of a high-stakes Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, a move to declare the ballot measure unconstitutional could upend the state’s entire electoral system.

In the current ballot design, the candidates officially supported by the leaders of the local Democratic and Republican parties are listed in a single column or row in a prominent list. position known as ‘the line’.

The challengers’ names appear on the side, sometimes at the edge of the ballot. Candidates call this ‘vote Siberia’.

Research has shown that candidates whose names appear on ‘the line’ generally win. The province’s political leaders use the system to encourage loyalty. As a result, party leaders have excessive control over policy decisions, jobs and government contracts.

In 2020, a lawsuit was filed to challenge the system. But it wasn’t until last month — when Andy Kim, a Democratic congressman from South Jersey who is vying for a Senate seat now occupied by Robert Menendez, filed his own legal challenge to the practice — that the long smoldering issue caught fire.

Mr. Kim is asking a federal judge, Zahid N. Quraishi of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, to force the state to redesign the ballot before the June 4 primary.

The judge held a daylong hearing Monday in Trenton, NJ.

Tammy Murphy, the first lady of New Jersey and Kim’s main opponent in the primaries, has the most to lose if Judge Quraishi grants Kim’s request.

Mrs. Murphy’s path to victory depends heavily on the institutional support she has received from Democratic leaders in the state’s most populous, urban counties, who are close to her husband, Gov. Philip Murphy. The livelihoods of many party officials who support Ms. Murphy depend on the state government, making it difficult to know where their support for her ends and where self-preservation begins.

Hours before the hearing, the state’s attorney general, Matthew J. Platkin, who has long been a close political ally of the governor, weighed in. He declared “the line” unconstitutional in a letter to Judge Quraishi on Sunday, a major blow to the government. Mrs. Murphy.

This is why leaders in New Jersey and Washington are paying so much attention to the debate.

‘Unconstitutional’?

Precinct leaders’ preferred candidates for each office — including president, congress, mayor, sheriff, county commissioner and county clerk — are all listed in brackets in a single column or row on most New Jersey primary ballots. Candidates whose names appear on “the line” typically win, making it extremely difficult for unendorsed insurgents to break into politics.

This is not done this way in the 49 other states. And in his letter on Sunday, Mr. Platkin wrote that New Jersey’s system was unsustainable.

“The Attorney General has concluded that the challenged statutes are unconstitutional and therefore will not defend them,” he wrote.

Mr. Platkin was appointed attorney general by the governor after running Mr. Murphy’s first campaign and serving for several years as his top government lawyer.

Murphy’s chief spokesperson, Mahen Gunaratna, quickly fired back, noting that “attorneys general have a general obligation to defend the constitutionality of laws, regardless of their own personal views.”

During Monday’s hearing, Angelo J. Genova, a lawyer and elder statesman for the state Democratic Party who led the defense of the ballot design practice in court on Monday, called Mr. Platkin’s letter a “litigation grenade.”

Judge Quraishi seemed equally displeased.

“He’s giving his opinion from the cheap seats,” Judge Quraishi said, adding, “on a Sunday,” and, emphatically, “on St. Patrick’s Day.”

The hearing

Judge Quraishi set a deadline for legal responses on Monday at 1 p.m., and is expected to rule sometime afterward on whether to order New Jersey’s county clerks to cease using “the line” in favor of grouping candidates running for each office. ballots in a so-called office building or bubble ballot.

His fourth-floor courtroom was filled beyond capacity Monday with dozens of the state’s most influential lawyers, law clerks, news reporters, students who believed they were watching history unfold, and their professors who had canceled classes to attend the hearing. to live.

For more than nine hours, the judge heard testimony from a series of witnesses, including voting machine software experts, the owner of a ballot printing company and Mr. Kim’s campaign manager.

Mr. Kim himself spent more than an hour in the witness box.

Many of the questions posed to Mr. Kim, who was close in each of his three races for Congress, focused on when he decided to file the request for preliminary injunction and why.

“You can pursue reforms to a system and still have to work within it,” he said when asked why he had continued to pursue the same benefits that he now claims are unconstitutional.

Kim vs. Murphy

Nineteen of New Jersey’s 21 counties use a county-line ballot.

Mr. Kim has won the Democratic nomination nine provinces where delegates were allowed to vote anonymously at party conventions; Ms. Murphy won the nomination in seven counties where the Democratic Party chair largely controlled the decision, and in one county where the chair campaigned for her and endorsed her but allowed delegates to vote using secret ballots.

However, there are significantly more registered Democrats in the counties that support Ms. Murphy and where her name will appear in the first voting spot, just below President Biden’s.

Ms. Murphy said through a spokeswoman that she would follow whatever guidelines the federal court sets. “If it is up to the provincial parties,” she said, “I will complete those conferences and displays. Or, if the judge determines a different path, I will follow those rules too.”

Mr. Kim emphasized in his testimony that the ballot design gave voters an inaccurate impression that all candidates on “the line” were campaigning together or holding similar policy positions.

“All I’m asking for is a fair vote,” he said, adding, “All I’m asking is for New Jersey to be on par with 49 other states.”

‘Chaos’ or simple reprogramming?

The clock is ticking.

County clerks must begin sending mail-in ballots on April 20, and several witnesses testified Monday about the feasibility of changing the design of the ballots by then.

Two experts on voting machine software and machines, called to testify by Mr. Kim’s lawyers, indicated that it would not be difficult to use a new template and change the voting design. The types of machines and voting registration software used in New Jersey already support office block voting in other parts of the country, they noted.

Monmouth County Clerk-elect Christine Hanlon, a Republican, warned that this was “uncharted territory.”

“It would be a major concern if we could do this in the very short time frame that we could,” she testified.

Dave Passante, owner of a company that gets paid about $6 million a year to print ballots for 11 counties, predicted that implementing the changes would be “chaos.”

However, Judge Quraishi asked him if he could make it happen if a district secretary asked for it.

“What do you say to your client?” the judge asked.

“Yes,” said Mr. Passante.

Grand Gorge, NY | $550,000

A 2021 A-frame cabin with three bedrooms and three bathrooms, on a 1.8 acre lot

This home is five minutes from Prattsville, a Greene County town with a restaurant, tavern and grocery store, and a 10-minute drive from a number of hiking and biking trails in the Catskill Mountains. Hunter Mountain, a popular ski area, is 20 minutes away. The city of Catskill, on the banks of the Hudson River, is a 45-minute drive away.

Driving to Hudson or Cooperstown, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, takes about an hour. Albany is about an hour and 15 minutes’ drive away. New York City is a three-hour drive away. Rochester is less than a four-hour drive away.

Mate: 1,700 square meters

Price per square meter: $324

Inside: A wooden staircase leads from the garden to a small terrace at the main entrance.

The front door opens into a living room with hardwood floors, a spiral staircase to the floor above and a large window overlooking mature trees.

This space is open to a dining area and kitchen with stainless steel appliances, quartz countertops, custom cabinetry painted forest green, and sliding glass doors that provide access to the back deck.

On this level there are two bedrooms, at the end of a corridor extending from the living room. One has a patterned yellow accent wall; it has the use of a full bathroom with a bath and a shower finished in dark green tiles. The other has its own outside entrance and the use of another full bathroom.

The second floor is configured as a large primary suite with a loft-style sitting area, large windows with expansive views, and a windowed bathroom with a shower lined with white tiles.

A side-by-side washer and dryer are located in the finished basement, currently used as a study and recreation room.

Outdoor area: The backyard has a wooden terrace with enough space for a table and chairs or a hot tub. The detached garage offers space for one car.

Taxes: $1,566 (estimated)

Contact: Angelica Ferguson and Lexi Mickle, Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty, 917-767-7705; sothebysrealty.com

Columbus, OH | $559,999

A newly renovated 1915 bungalow with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, on a 0.2 acre plot

Located in the Clintonville neighborhood, this home is a few blocks from a public library, a Kroger supermarket, a vegan restaurant, and a donut shop, and about a five-minute drive from the main campus of The Ohio State University. It is less than a mile from Columbus Park of Roses, one of the nation’s largest public rose gardens, in Whetstone Park.

The Ohio Statehouse and Columbus Museum of Art are 10 minutes away, in downtown Columbus. Driving to Cincinnati takes less than two hours. Cleveland is two and a half hours away.

Mate: 1,669 square meters

Price per square meter: $336

Inside: A paved path runs across the front garden and leads to a wide veranda surrounded by white-painted wooden balustrades.

The front door opens into a living room with a fireplace and several windows overlooking the veranda. Through a wide doorway you reach a dining room with windows and white-painted wooden paneling. A breakfast bar separates this space from a kitchen with new stainless steel appliances, leather granite countertops, a built-in bench and a glass door that opens to the backyard.

The 1 bedroom suite is located on this level, next to the dining room. The bedroom is large enough for a queen bed and desk; the bathroom has a double sink and a walk-in shower.

Upstairs there are three more bedrooms, accessible via a staircase in the kitchen. They share a renovated bathroom with a combined bath and shower.

Outdoor area: The backyard is enclosed by a wooden fence and has a terrace. The detached garage offers space for two cars.

Wenonah, NJ | $550,000

A 1911 house with five bedrooms and three bathrooms, on 0.3 hectares

Wenonah, a neighborhood in Gloucester County about a half-hour drive from Center City Philadelphia, was founded in the early 1870s as a refuge for city residents who appreciated its proximity to Mantua Creek, a tributary of the Delaware River .

This home is within walking distance of a public elementary school, a public library, and Tall Pines State Preserve, a 250-acre nature preserve on the site of a former golf course. Ocean City, Wildwood, Cape May and other towns along the Jersey Shore are less than 90 minutes away.

Mate: 2,839 square meters

Price per square meter: $194

Inside: The house is located a little further from the street, behind a manicured lawn.

To the left of the entrance is a living room with original hardwood floors, diamond-paned windows and a gas fireplace with marble surround and an original wooden mantel.

The hardwood floors lead through French doors to a dining room with an antique hanging lamp. This space connects to a kitchen with copper sink and a large center island with granite countertops.

A home office and family room with fireplace and bar are located down a hallway extending from the dining room. A diamond-paned bedroom with en suite bathroom is also located in this part of the house.

On the second floor there are three more bedrooms, accessible via a staircase in the living room. They share a bathroom with a combined bath and shower.

The third floor is set up as a primary suite, with a bedroom large enough for a king-size bed, a separate sitting area, and a bathroom with a deep soaking tub and walk-in shower.

Outdoor area: Behind the house there is a wooden terrace where you can eat outside when the weather is nice. There are steps down to a stone terrace large enough for lounge furniture. The backyard behind it is landscaped with grass. The detached garage offers space for two cars.

Taxes: $13,812 (estimated)

Contact: Mark Honabach, Weichert, 856-227-1950; weichert.com

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A year ago, Governor Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey spoke proudly of his plan to eliminate the corporate tax. He framed this as a promise kept in a state that strives to compete for entrepreneurs.

“Eliminating this fee will mean more money for them to create jobs, invest in new and more efficient equipment, lower costs for consumers and stay here,” said Murphy, a Democrat. unveiled his budget blueprint last February.

He was successful. And the tax expired two months ago.

On Tuesday, Mr Murphy will propose reversing course and reintroducing an 11.5 per cent corporate tax – the the highest percentage in the country — for the state’s most profitable companies, according to several of his aides. He is expected to present the tax restoration as part of a permanent solution to the dire financial state of New Jersey’s statewide transit system during his annual budget address at the State House.

There is a key difference in this proposed corporate surcharge: The 11.5 percent rate, if adopted, would only apply to companies with profits of more than $10 million per year, an increase from the previous threshold of $1 million.

The Murphy administration said between 600 and 700 businesses would be required to pay the additional 2.5 percent surcharge on top of the state’s basic business rate of 9 percent. (Until January, when the old tax formula expired, about 3,000 businesses paid the top rate.) Still, the governor’s aides said this would raise about $800 million a year in revenue.

Beginning in mid-2026, that additional revenue would go to New Jersey Transit, which is facing large and growing deficits. But Murphy does not see the tax – he calls it the “corporate transit fee” – as an alternative to the fare increases that New Jersey Transit wants to impose.

The agency proposed increasing all train, bus and light rail fares by 15 percent on July 1 and by another 3 percent annually thereafter. The agency’s board will vote on that proposal, which would be the first rate increase since 2015, after a series of public hearings next week.

Transit advocates and some Democratic officials have criticized the fare increase proposal, saying it will unfairly place an additional burden on workers who take trains and buses to work.

“We have known about NJ Transit’s budget problems for years and we have sounded the alarm,” said Alex Ambrose, an analyst at New Jersey Policy Perspective. “We have yet to see a solution from lawmakers that does not balance the budget on the backs of hardworking New Jerseyans.”

Ms Ambrose argued that Mr Murphy should not have allowed the corporation tax surcharge to lapse in the first place, and should instead have sent the resulting money to the transport company.

The governor’s new tax proposal aims to address a long-standing criticism of the state’s transit funding policies.

Transit advocates have been calling on the state for years to provide more annual funding that New Jersey Transit can rely on. Without sufficient dedicated resources, the agency was dependent on annual budget allocations.

For the current budget year, the state provided about $140 million, up from $100 million the year before. That allocation was in addition to $440 million from tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike and $70 million from the state’s clean energy fund.

That mix amounted to the state’s largest annual contribution to New Jersey Transit, but was far from enough to cover the agency’s operating costs. So the agency had to subtract $334 million from its budget for infrastructure improvements and equipment upgrades. Such annual transfers hamper the agency’s ability to provide reliable service, advocates say.

New Jersey Transit has suffered a continued decline in ridership since the arrival of Covid and has had to survive on more than $4 billion in federal pandemic aid in recent years. That money helped New Jersey Transit maintain service levels, but it will run out next year.

Despite the agency’s financial instability, Mr. Murphy has taken credit for a long list of improvements there, including hiring hundreds of machinists and bus drivers, purchasing new equipment, improving timeliness and reducing cancellations of trains.

Tuesday’s presentation by the governor is the opening offer in what will now be a months-long negotiation with the state Legislature to finalize a spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1.