Most critically, spreading candidates across multiple columns or rows and placing extra columns or rows between them, makes it much harder for voters to determine which candidates are running for each office. Senator, or Governor, at the top of the line and the inclusion of candidates for most or all of the offices on the ballot.ĭesigning primary ballots in this way violates important rules of good ballot design. The county line is further advantaged by the placement of better-known candidates, such as those running for President, U.S. This ballot design encourages voters to pick the candidates on the county line because they are easy to find and visually distinct. House of Representatives.įigure 1: Monmouth County 4th Congressional District 2020 Democratic primary ballot. Columns four and five each include a single candidate for the U.S. Column three includes a candidate for President and his delegates. Senate and two candidates for County Freeholder. Column two includes a candidate for the U.S. There is no obvious logic as to why each of the non-endorsed candidates is in a particular column. The remaining six candidates are scattered across the other four, mostly empty, columns. The seven county line candidates are in column one. Candidates not on the county line are placed in other columns or rows, sometimes far away from the county line candidates.įigure 1 shows a 2020 New Jersey Democratic primary ballot from Monmouth County. The county line generally receives prime location in one of the first columns or rows on the ballot.
These groups of county party endorsed candidates are referred to as the “county line” or the “party line,” because they are presented on the ballot as a vertical or horizontal line of names, with a candidate included for every office. In contrast, nineteen of New Jersey’s twenty-one counties organize their primary ballots around a group of candidates endorsed by either the Democratic or Republican Party. This makes it easy for voters to determine which candidates are running for each office. Other states organize their primary ballots around the electoral position being sought, such as Senator or Governor, with candidates listed beneath or immediately to the right of each electoral position. New Jersey primary ballots are unlike those of any other state. Candidates’ share of the vote varied by as much as 50 percentage points, based on whether or not they were on the county line. The impact of the county line appeared to be greatest in races that did not involve an incumbent. The county line also increases voter confusion, contributing to overvotes and undervotes. The results suggest that structuring ballots around the county line impacts election outcomes by steering voters towards specific candidates. House of Representatives and the Democratic and Republican contests for the U.S. The brief examines ten primary races – four Democratic and four Republican contests for the U.S.
This policy brief assesses the impact of New Jersey’s unique primary ballot design, which structures ballots around the county line, on the state’s 2020 primary election outcomes.
#COUNTY LINE PDF#
We are deeply passionate about being good stewards of the land while providing the freshest, most flavorful produce possible and are excited to have the opportunity to create more organic farmland in California.To read a PDF version of the full report, click here. Our new parcel is now certified organic as of January 2021. The Thermal location was certified organic from 2010 through June 2019 until the original lease ended and everything was picked up and moved to new land. The Thermal farm is on 120 acres of leased land cultivated in a wide assortment of hand harvested specialty produce including baby lettuces, salad & cooking greens and baby root vegetables that are available October through June.Ĭounty Line Harvest's Petaluma farm has been certified organic by Marin Organic Certified Agriculture since 2001. In 2010, we started a second farm location in Southern California in order to meet the demand of our customers as well as provide year-round employment for a dozen of our full-time employees and nine months of seasonal work for an additional 35. Since then the Petaluma farm has grown to 30 acres of certified organic baby lettuces and specialty salad greens in the summer and heirloom Italian chicories over the winter. County Line Harvest was started in 2000 by David Retsky on just six acres in Northern California on the Marin-Sonoma County line.
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