Appeals court leaves temporary hold on New Jersey’s county line primary ballot design in place

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal appeals court has affirmed a lower court’s decision to order New Jersey Democrats to scrap a ballot design widely viewed as helping candidates with establishment backing. The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals considered a slimmed-down appeal brought by the Camden County Democrats after the county clerks — the officials charged with designing ballots in New Jersey — dropped out of the appeal of a lower court’s temporary injunction. The appeals court’s decision means U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi’s order requiring clerks to stop using the so-called county line ballot, which lists candidates with political party support in a single column and often relegates others to “ballot Siberia” will stand.