Merchantville, NJ- The South Jersey Progressive Democrats congratulate our Merchantville chapter, the Merchantville Progressive Democrats, on their election victory last night. The three-person slate of former Merchantville councilperson Nina Scarpa, Chester Hicks, and Joe Bouvier will bring progressive energy, good government transparency, and accountability to the Camden County Democratic Committee.

The Merchantville Progressive Dems employed savvy communications strategies, clever organizing, and hard work to propel their victory. Like the Collingswood Progressive Democrats in 2019, who shocked the New Jersey political world by winning an off-the-line victory for Democratic Committee, the Merchantville slate was forced to contend with the discriminatory ballot placement known as The Line.

The Line, according to Professor Julia Sass Rubin in a New Jersey Policy Perspective report, is a ballot design “where primary ballots used by the majority of voters are organized around a slate of candidates endorsed by either the Democratic or the Republican Party. […] The endorsements are determined at the county party level and the endorsed candidates are presented on the ballot as a vertical or horizontal line of names. Candidates not on the line are placed in other columns or rows, sometimes far away from the county line candidates.”

This ballot placement gives favored candidates an unfair advantage in elections, making it nearly impossible for challengers to prevail or for current elected officials to stand up to political bosses. The Line thus contributes to the entrenched nature of New Jersey’s politics and explains why we struggle to fully fund our schools, properly tax the wealthy, and create racially and socially just public policies.

Despite the admirable victory of the Merchantville Progressive Democrats, the Ballot Line in New Jersey must be abolished before our state will have a true democracy. Fortunately, the Merchantville Progressive Democrats are committed to working to end this undemocratic practice and bring true choice and account.

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