The elimination of the so-called “county line” was a major step forward in fixing our elections. It was how the county party leaders suppressed competition and enforced discipline on elected officials. This makes elected officials more accountable to party interests than to voters. “The line” was such an advantage that candidates would not if they were not on it.
As a result 80% of our primary elections were uncontested. In Gerrymandered districts, that left voters with no choice in the November elections. Incumbents were re-elected over and over with little to no accountability to voters.
Primary election turnout is abysmally low due mostly to the lack of competition. Even now, the only race on my primary ballot that is competitive is for Governor. In two races candidates are unopposed and in two others, no Democrats submitted petitions.
Unaffiliated voters now make up some 38% of the electorate and they are not allowed to vote in the current closed primary system. So a small fraction of voters nominate the candidates that are presented to the rest of us on the November ballot.
We need to engage that 38% of the voters in the primaries. Unaffiliated voters must be given the opportunity to vote for candidates in the primary without joining either of the two major parties. Candidates will have more voters to appeal to for support. And voters will have choices.
We need to eliminate the “sore loser” law that permits only one candidate from a party to run for each office. If two members of the same party are among the most popular, voters should not be denied the opportunity to consider them in the general election. In fact, the four most popular candidates in the primary should be included for consideration in the general election.
Today candidates can win without a majority. That too needs to change. New Jersey should use Ranked-Choice voting to ensure all successful candidates have the support of a majority of voters. There is simply no excuse to continue using the Plurality voting system that is a proven failure.
