Racial Justice Advocates Hail Appeals Court Decision Upholding Rejection of the County Line for NJ's 2024 Primary Election
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NEWARK – The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice and Campaign Legal Center – along with their clients the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, Salvation and Social Justice, New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, New Jersey Policy Perspective, AAPI New Jersey, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund and Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC (collectively, “Amici”) – stated the following in response to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit's decision affirming the district court’s order in Kim v. Hanlon that the county line cannot be used on Democratic ballots in the June primary election.
“This ruling is yet another step in the collapse of New Jersey’s antidemocratic political machinery that has robbed the people – especially voters of color – of the necessary power to elect candidates who truly represent them.
“For too long, through the county line, county parties and their overwhelmingly white and male chairs have been able to maintain power for themselves and their political allies, making candidates accountable to them instead of us – the people. This system has undermined the very democracy we are all fighting to save right now, and its end cannot come soon enough.
“We have been proud to stand together in this fight and will keep on going until the county line is gone forever so that New Jersey’s representation can finally reflect our great diversity.”
Amici’s brief in Kim v. Hanlon can be found here.