Bill Text: NJ A5283 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Allows county clerk or municipal clerk to rotate candidate names on primary election ballots under certain circumstances.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-06-15 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A5283 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-A5283-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman MICHAEL VENEZIA
District 34 (Essex)
SYNOPSIS
Allows county clerk or municipal clerk to rotate candidate names on primary election ballots under certain circumstances.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the rotation of candidate names appearing on primary election ballots, amending R.S.19:23-24, and supplementing chapter 23 of Title 19 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.19:23-24 is amended to read as follows:
19:23-24. a. The position which the candidates for the primary for the general election shall have upon the ballots used for the primary election for the general election, in the case of candidates for nomination for members of the United States Senate, Governor, members of the House of Representatives, members of the State Senate, members of the General Assembly, choice for President, delegates and alternates-at-large to the national conventions of political parties, district delegates and alternates to conventions of political parties, candidates for party positions, other than State political party committee, and county offices or party positions which are to be voted for by the voters of the entire county or a portion thereof greater than a single municipality, including a congressional district which is wholly within a single municipality, shall be determined by the county clerks in their respective counties.
The position on the ballot used for the primary election for the general election in the case of candidates for nomination for office or party position wherein the candidates for office or party position to be filled are to be voted for by the voters of a municipality only, or a subdivision thereof (excepting in the case of members of the House of Representatives), which nominating petitions are required to be filed in the municipal clerk's office, shall be determined by the municipal clerk in such municipalities, except that, upon written notice by the county clerk to the municipal clerk, the county clerk shall determine the position on the ballot for such offices or party positions.
The position which the candidates shall have upon the ballots used for the primary election shall be determined as specified in this section.
b. The county clerk, the county clerk's deputy, the municipal clerk, or the municipal clerk's deputy, as the case may be, shall at the clerk's office on the 61st day prior to the primary election for the general election at three o'clock in the afternoon draw from the box, as hereinafter described, each card separately without knowledge on the clerk's part as to which card the clerk is drawing. Any legal voter of the county or municipality, as the case may be, shall have the privilege of witnessing such drawing. The person making the drawing shall make public announcement at the drawing of each name, the order in which the same is drawn, and the office for which the drawing is made. When there is to be but one person nominated for the office, the names of the several candidates who have filed petitions for such office shall be written upon cards (one name on a card) of the same size, substance, and thickness. The cards shall be deposited in a box with an aperture in the cover of sufficient size to admit a man's hand. The box shall be well shaken and turned over to thoroughly mix the cards, and the cards shall then be withdrawn one at a time. The first name drawn shall have first place, the second name drawn, second place, and so on; the order of the withdrawal of the cards from the box determining the order of arrangement in which the names shall appear upon the primary election ballot. Where there is more than one person to be nominated to an office where petitions have designated that certain candidates shall be associated pursuant to R.S.19:23-18, the position of such names on the ballot, together with individuals who have filed petitions for nomination for such office, shall be determined as above described. Where there is more than one person to be nominated for an office and there are more candidates who have filed petitions than there are persons to be nominated, the order of the printing of such names upon the primary election ballots shall be determined as above described.
Following an initial draw for ballot position conducted pursuant to this subsection, and upon approval as provided under subsection g. of this section, the clerk may, in accordance with the provisions of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), rotate the names of the candidates from the order determined by the draw, so that the name of each candidate appears substantially an equal number of times at each possible order, from first to last, on the ballot before an equal number of voters. Such rotation may be conducted by election district pursuant to subsection c. of section of 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) or by individual ballot pursuant to subsection d. of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
c. Candidates for nomination to the same office with multiple open seats to be voted on who wish to associate with one another and who have filed a petition of nomination and waived their right to be drawn individually in compliance with R.S.19:23-18 shall be treated as one name and shall be drawn only once under subsection b. of this section.
d. As prohibited by section 2 of P.L.2025, c.32 (C.19:23-23.2), no candidate shall have their position on the ballot determined by the position of any candidate for a different office.
e. (1) If there is only one candidate for an office to be voted on at the primary election, the candidate shall be placed first in the office block for the respective office being sought, and the drawing procedures described in subsection b. of this section shall not be required.
(2) If there are an equal number of candidates and open seats for an office, and all the candidates seeking the office have filed a petition of nomination indicating their intention to associate on the ballot pursuant to R.S.19:23-18, the candidates shall be placed upon the ballot in the order requested on their petitions of nomination, and the drawing procedures described in subsection b. of this section shall not be required.
f. The county clerk in certifying to the municipal clerk the offices to be filled and the names of candidates to be printed upon the ballots used for the primary election for the general election shall certify them in the order as drawn in accordance with the provisions of this section, or pursuant to the rotational procedures established under section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), if applicable, and the municipal clerk shall cause to be printed the names upon the ballots as so certified and in addition shall print the names of such candidates as have filed petitions with the municipal clerk in the order as determined as a result of the drawing as above described.
g. If a county political committee or municipal political committee, as the case may be, wishes for the names of candidates to be nominated by members of that political party at a primary election for the general election to be rotated pursuant to the rotational procedures established under section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and such ballot rotation was not performed in the preceding primary election, the county political committee or municipal political committee, as the case may be, not later than 90 days prior to the primary election, shall make such request of the county clerk or the municipal clerk, as the case may be, in the respective county or municipality. The county clerk or the municipal clerk, as the case may be, shall review the request and, not later than 75 days prior to the primary election, shall certify to the members of the county board of elections of the respective political party making such request that the ballot rotation would be feasible and implementable in time for the upcoming primary election. Upon receiving such certification, the members of the county board of elections of the respective political party shall meet as soon as practicable, but not later than 68 days prior to the primary election, to review the request and certification and to approve or reject the use of ballot rotation in the primary election for their respective political party. For an approval to be effective, the members of the board who are members of the same political party shall unanimously approve the request and certification. If the request and certification are not unanimously approved as required herein, then the ballot drawing procedures used at the previous primary election shall apply.
The approval process provided by this subsection shall only be required if a different ballot rotation procedure than was used for the preceding primary election is being sought for use in an upcoming primary election.
(cf: P.L.2025, c.32, s.5)
2. (New section) a. If approved by the respective members of the county board of elections as required by subsection g. of R.S.19:23-24, the county clerks or municipal clerks, as the case may be, may determine the position which the candidates for each race shall have upon the ballots in each election district as described in subsection c. of this section, or upon the ballots provided to voters as described in subsection d. of this section, using a rotational order system and rotation algorithm as specified herein.
b. Following a determination made in accordance with subsection a. of this section as to which rotational order system shall be used, the name of each candidate shall be rotated with the names of the other candidates so that the name of each candidate appears substantially an equal number of times at each possible order, from first to last, on the ballot before an equal number of voters. The county clerk or the municipal clerk, as the case may be, shall conduct either one of the rotation procedures specified under subsections c. and d. of this section.
c. For rotations being conducted by election district, the county clerk or municipal clerk, as the case may be, shall:
(1) determine the initial or base rotation of candidate names for all offices and party positions for which rotation shall be required, using the drawing procedures provided under R.S.19:23-24;
(2) determine the number of registered voters in each election district for each race that is subject to candidate rotation as of 8:00 A.M. on the 65th day before the primary election, identify such election districts, and arrange such districts in order of the number of registered voters, from largest to smallest;
(3) calculate the number of rotations needed for each office by determining the number of candidates for each office; and
(4) assign an election district to each rotation as further specified in this subsection.
Starting with the largest election district by population, the county clerk or municipal clerk, as the case may be, shall assign an election district to each rotation. If there are more candidates than election districts, the assignments shall stop after the last election district has been assigned. If there are more election districts than candidates, the clerk shall keep a running subtotal of the total number of registered voters assigned to each rotation. After each rotation has been assigned one election district, the clerk shall assign the next largest election district to the rotation with the lowest subtotal of registered voters. The clerk shall continue assigning the next largest election district to the rotation with the lowest subtotal until all election districts for that race have been assigned.
d. For rotations being conducted by presenting individual ballots to each voter when voting by mail, voting during the early voting period, or voting in person on election day, the county clerks or municipal clerks, as the case may be, shall follow the uniform guidelines developed pursuant to subsection f. of this section, which shall include, but need not be limited to:
(1) methods for determining the number and distribution of mail-in, provisional, emergency, and any other paper ballots to be used in undertaking the ballot rotation; and
(2) standards and security protocols for any computerized algorithm to be used to rotate the order of candidate names as they appear on voting machine ballots.
e. Not later than five days after the order of candidate names has been determined pursuant to this section, the county clerk or municipal clerk, as the case may be, shall print a report for each race, showing the rotation subtotals for all races and all candidates within each race. This report shall be made publicly available on the official websites of the appropriate county clerk, county board of elections, county superintendent of elections, and municipal clerk.
f. Within 30 days of the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the Secretary of State, in consultation with all county clerks, county boards of elections, and superintendents of election in this State, shall develop uniform guidelines to be followed to implement a rotational order system and rotation algorithm established by this section, which shall specify procedures for achieving the rotation on any paper ballot and voting machine ballot used in any primary election in this State.
3. This act shall take effect January 1 next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
The bill allows county clerks and municipal clerks, as the case may be, to rotate the names of candidates appearing on primary election ballots under certain circumstances.
The bill specifies the ballot rotation procedures that may be conducted, if requested by the county or municipal committee of a political party. The political committee may make this request of the county clerk or municipal clerk, as the case may be, who will review the request to determine whether the ballot rotation is feasible and implementable for the upcoming primary election. If certified, the clerk will submit the request, along with the certification, for approval by the members of the county board of elections of the respective political party making the request for their primary election ballot. The ballot rotation procedures will only be implemented if the members of the county board of elections for the respective party unanimously approve.
If ballot rotation is adopted pursuant to the bill's provisions, a rotation algorithm would be used to rotate the order in which the names of candidates will appear on the ballot. The various rotated ballots would be presented to the voters by assigning the ballot versions per election district. Alternatively, the various rotated ballots would be randomly presented to each voter when voting by mail, voting during the early voting period, or voting in person on election day. As a result of this rotation, voters may receive different ballot versions, where the same list of candidates is ordered differently. The goal of the rotation system is for each candidate to appear substantially an equal number of times at each possible order, from first to last, on the ballot before an equal number of voters, and that no candidate will be advantaged over other candidates on the basis of their ballot placement or position.
