Appellate Court to Consider Constitutionality of N.J. Closed Primary

image
Published: 16 Feb, 2015
Updated: 15 Oct, 2022
2 min read

Update: On Tuesday, March 3, 2015, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals officially granted oral argument in the case, Balsam, et al. v. Guadagno, on Tuesday, March 17, 2015.

 

A coalition that includes seven individual plaintiffs, the

Independent Voter Project, and IndependentVoting.org filed suit in March in a federal court challenging the constitutionality of New Jersey’s closed primary system.

Plaintiffs assert two main grievances under federal law:

  1. New Jersey’s closed primary system violates a voter’s First Amendment right of non-association because voters are required to join a political party to participate in the taxpayer-funded primary process, and
  2. New Jersey’s closed primary system violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause because the primary system gives political parties and their members superior access to the election franchise, which has the effect of diluting the influence of voters who choose not to join the Republican or Democratic parties.

Additionally, plaintiffs claim that the closed primary system violates New Jersey’s state constitutional prohibition against the private use of public funds because the closed primary serves the exclusive benefit of the Republican and Democratic parties and their members to conduct their private nomination proceedings.

A federal district court judge, Stanley Chesler, dismissed the plaintiffs' entire case, with prejudice, on summary judgment. Chesler’s opinion cited precedent concerning an independent voter’s right to participate in Republican and Democratic primaries and suggested that, among other things, “a voter who feels disenfranchised ... should simply join  party.

On appeal, the plaintiffs/appellants have asked the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals the following questions:

  1. Are the State of New Jersey’s (“state”) non-presidential primary elections an integral stage of the election process in New Jersey?
  2. Does every voter have a fundamental right to vote in all integral stages of an election?
  3. Do appellants state a claim under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution when the state creates two classes of voters: (i) registered voters who ‘qualify’ to vote in primary elections by virtue of joining the Democratic or Republican political parties; and, (ii) registered voters who are not ‘qualified’ to vote in primary elections because they have not joined the Republican or Democratic parties?
  4. Do appellants state a claim under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution when the state requires voters to join the Republican or Democratic parties as a condition to gaining access to an integral stage of the state’s election process?
  5. Did the lower court err by relying on precedent related to a political party’s right to control their candidate nomination proceedings, rather than precedent related to rights of individual voters to participate in the election process?

The court has calendared oral argument on March 17, 2015. However, the three-judge panel has yet to ultimately decide whether to grant the oral argument. That decision must be made by March 7, 2015.

Get all the up-to-date information on the lawsuit here.

Latest articles

Crowd in Time Square.
NYC Exit Survey: 96% of Voters Understood Their Ranked Choice Ballots
An exit poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the nonprofit better elections group FairVote finds that ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to be supported by a vast majority of voters who find it simple, fair, and easy to use. The findings come in the wake of the city’s third use of RCV in its June 2025 primary elections....
01 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read
A man filling out his election ballot.
Oregon Activist Sues over Closed Primaries: 'I Shouldn't Have to Join a Party to Have a Voice'
A new lawsuit filed in Oregon challenges the constitutionality of the state’s closed primary system, which denies the state’s largest registered voting bloc – independent voters – access to taxpayer-funded primary elections. The suit alleges Oregon is denying the voters equal voting rights...
01 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Supreme Court building.
Supreme Court Sides with Federal Corrections Officers in Lawsuit Over Prison Incident
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 30 that federal prison officers and officials cannot be sued by an inmate who accused them of excessive force during a 2021 incident, delivering a victory for federal corrections personnel concerned about rising legal exposure for doing their jobs....
01 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read