Last Fight Against 'County Line' Election Favoritism Ends With Bergen County Settlement

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — After years of county machine-backed political candidates getting the top spot on New Jersey ballots, a court settlement with the county of Bergen may have closed the door on that system for good.

New Jersey government reform advocates celebrated last week when Bergen County's clerk became the last of the 19 county clerks named in the cases to settle.

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Judge Zahid Quraishi signed off on Bergen County's settlement, closing six years of litigation, said a representative for New Jersey Working Families Party and the attorneys for the various plaintiffs.

Over the years, candidates noted that various county political organizations got to choose which candidates got the top spots on primary ballots.

Several advocates and organizations participated in the litigation as amicus parties.

"Today's settlement is a massive win for New Jersey voters," said Sen. Andy Kim, who had challenged the ballot system during the 2024 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, last week.

"It's a win that took years of work from advocates and everyday people who just wanted their democracy to work for them."

He added, "We shouldn't see today as the finish line; we still have a system — in New Jersey and across the country — that has too much money and too little transparency and power for working families. We need to fix that."

Ronald Chen of the Rutgers Constitutional Law Clinic, representing the Harvard Election Law Clinic, said, "The county line litigation has already transformed New Jersey politics by opening the political process to new generations of leaders and candidates who previously faced systemic barriers to meaningful participation."

Jesse Burns, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, said, "After many years of grassroots organizing, the official end of the county line marks a new era in New Jersey politics."

Find the settlement here.

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