The judge managing a constitutional challenge to New Jersey's county-line tally style on Monday denied a demand by a group of county clerks that had asked him to halt his Friday choice prohibiting them from using the contested ballots.
U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi said in a brief order that the clerks had not raised any brand-new arguments in their ask for a stay or mentioned any law that suggests their appeal of his Friday choice is most likely to be successful.
" The Court declines to retread the same ground a second time," Quraishi stated.
All eyes now move to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The clerks have asked the federal appeals court to weigh in on Quraishi's Friday order, which they say is impractical. They need more time to transfer to a different type of ballot layout, and making the change now in advance of June's primaries would lead to "electoral mayhem," they have stated.
Rep. Andy Kim and 2 congressional candidates took legal action against the group of clerks last month, arguing that the county-line system-- which allows prospects backed by party leaders to group themselves on the tally-- is unconstitutional. Quraishi on Friday released a preliminary injunction that disallows the clerks from utilizing the county-line tallies for June's Democratic primaries and orders them to utilize office-block ballots, which group candidates by workplace sought.
In a legal filing earlier Monday, Kim's lawyers argued that there was ample evidence that clerks currently have the capability to print mail ballots and prepare ballot makers with an office-block design-- and they've done it before in previous elections.
" Experienced voting innovation professionals also made clear that for a clerk to transition from a county-line primary ballot to an office-block screen is a relatively easy task, taking a few hours, or a day at many, and may in fact be easier to check and program in its totality," Kim's attorneys composed. "There is absolutely no reliable evidence of an 'excessive threat to the administration of this year's primary elections.'".
Kim, a Democrat, is seeking his party's election for the U.S. Senate seat now held by indicted Sen. Bob Menendez versus 2 other candidates, labor leader Patricia Campos-Medina and activist Larry Hamm.
Quraishi's order shook politics in New Jersey, which stands alone nationally in its county-line tally design. Critics have long said the county line grants outsized power to regional party leaders and disenfranchises voters.
Lawyers for the clerks state they are facing a key deadline of April 5, when they should prepare printer's proofs of the tallies.
" Our customers have a substantial concern about their ability to abide by the Court's order issued today," lawyer Rajiv D. Parikh composed Friday. "This Court's Order could result in electoral turmoil, nevertheless unintentional, if not stayed pending appeal.".
Attorneys for Kim told Quarishi Monday that April 5 is a "soft" due date because state courts "frequently unwind that deadline when needed to adjudicate claims of incorrect ballot design or to otherwise protect candidates' rights.".
The April 20 due date for mailing ballots to overseas and military citizens is "a much firmer" due date, and "even that is not totally repaired," Kim's lawyers wrote. County clerks have up until May 22 to prepare ballot makers, they added.
Republished courtesy of New Jersey Monitor, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a union of donors as a 501c( 3) public charity. New Jersey Monitor keeps editorial self-reliance.
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