Republicans Will Get ‘Line A’ In Essex County For 2023 Election

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — When voters in Essex County head to the polls on Nov. 7 for the 2023 general election, they’ll see something they haven’t experienced in nearly two decades: Republicans on “Line A” of the ballot.

Glance at a ballot from previous elections in Essex County, and you’ll see two horizontal columns filling the top rows (see a sample ballot from 2022 below). Each column, designated “A” and “B,” is reserved for Democratic and Republican Party candidates – the only political parties officially recognized on ballots in New Jersey.

The line a candidate lands on may seem like it wouldn't make much of difference. But according to many political pundits, having your name at the top of the ballot can be a significant advantage on Election Day.

In Essex County, line assignments are supposed to be chosen via a random drawing overseen by the county clerk. But GOP candidates have been placed on Line B for 17 consecutive years – a “statistical impossibility and absurdity,” the Montclair Republican County Committee claims.

On Monday, the Montclair GOP went to court in an attempt to delay this year’s ballot drawing in Essex County, which took place in Newark.

“Since 2006, Democrat County Clerk Chris Durkin has [been] pulling Line A for the Democrats every single year,” said the group’s chair, Michael Byrne.

“We filed a lawsuit this morning to stop [Durkin] from pulling Line A for the Essex County Democrats for an 18th straight year in a supposedly ‘random’ drawing,” Byrne wrote. “We deserve transparent, fair and honest elections.”

Article continues below

It isn’t only symbolic for Byrne, who launched a successful write-in campaign during the primary election and is now an official candidate for a New Jersey Senate seat in the 27th District alongside Jonathan Sym and Irene Devita in the Assembly.

The 27th District – which includes several Essex County towns – is home to one of the most-interesting races in the state this year. The candidate many pundits considered the frontrunner, Sen. Richard Codey, announced Monday that he plans to retire and isn’t seeking re-election, despite his victory in the primary.

• See Related: Richard Codey Is Retiring From NJ Senate: 'A Tough Day For Me'
• See Related: NJ-27 Primary Election Results: Codey v. Gill, Assembly Races
  

“As our Republican candidate for state Senate in the 27th District, I asked a highly competent political law firm to write Durkin on our behalf and demand a fair drawing,” Byrne reported earlier this week.

“But as we expected, Durkin is refusing to discuss the process ahead of time and refusing to provide full transparency so that Republicans can have confidence that the drawing is fair,” he continued. “If we want a shot at winning Line A on the general election ballot, we’re going to need the courts to intervene.”

That intervention didn’t happen, Durkin told Patch on Tuesday.

“There was a lawsuit filed to delay the ballot drawing, but the judge found no basis to delay the ballot drawing,” the county clerk said.

“Each ballot drawing is conducted in a fair and open process where the public is invited to attend,” Durkin said when asked to elaborate on how the choice is made. “Each ballot drawing for the general election is conducted once a year and is conducted completely separate from the previous year.”

Long story short? The Republican Party has been awarded Line A for the 2023 general election in Essex County, he said.

This week’s ballot situation isn’t the first time that Durkin has faced a challenge from local Republicans.

In 2021, the Essex County NJ Republican Women alleged that they found “voting anomalies” when examining that year’s general election results. However, Durkin – who won re-election as a Democrat in 2020 – told Patch there was a simple explanation for the group’s findings and that each vote was “correctly tallied.”

• See Related: Essex County Clerk Explains 'Voting Anomalies' Found By GOP Group

WALKING ‘THE LINE’ IN NEW JERSEY

Republicans aren’t the only ones who have been questioning the way that ballots are organized in New Jersey.

Prior to this year’s primary election, several progressive advocacy groups continued a long-running push to do away with what they say is one of the oldest tricks in the Garden State’s political playbook: commonly known as “The Line.”

Here’s how it works, a Rutgers University professor recently explained:

“Primary ballots used by the majority of New Jersey voters are organized around a slate of candidates endorsed by either the Democratic or the Republican Party. These slates of candidates are known as the ‘county line’ or the ‘party line.’ Instead of organizing primary ballots around the office being sought and clearly indicating which candidates are running for each position, most counties in New Jersey organize the primary ballots around a slate of party-endorsed candidates. As a result, voters often have a hard time determining which candidates are running for each office, giving a huge advantage to those who land on the county line.”

How big is the benefit? No state legislative incumbent on The Line lost a primary election in New Jersey between 2009 and 2018, according to a recent analysis by the Communications Workers of America.

• See Related: NJ Primary Ballots Bamboozle Voters With 'The Line,' Experts Say
• See Related: NJ Needs To Change Its 'Biased' Primary Ballots: Advocates
• See Related: Battle Continues Against NJ’s Weird Primary Ballots

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.