Appeals court orders Gloucester County to design new ballots in time for in-person voting

A New Jersey appeals court ruled Gloucester County officials must replace their illegal office-block ballots before in-person voting starts later this month, reversing a prior decision from a lower court judge.

State law requires general election ballots to be designed in a column format, with parties and offices arranged on a grid. Republicans, in fact, won Column A in the county’s ballot drawing and spent money on materials pushing voters to vote for Column A.

But late last month, the Gloucester County clerk’s office, controlled by Democratic Clerk James Hogan, revealed the office-block ballot design; Republicans were surprised, and at least one Democrat privately acknowledged the ballot design could help downballot Democrats. The move potentially limits Republican Jack Ciattarelli’s coattails in a county where two competitive state Assembly seats are up for grabs, as well as control of the county government.

Gloucester County Republicans sued, but many ballots had already been sent out to voters who had asked to vote by mail.




https://newjerseyglobe.com/local/appeals-court-orders-gloucester-county-to-design-new-ballots-in-time-for-in-person-voting/