NJ county clerks withdraw appeals to primary ballot ruling

New Jersey county clerks have withdrawn appeals to a ruling requiring they redraw primary election ballots argued to unfairly favor the state's Democratic establishment.

U.S. Judge Zahid Quraishi had ordered Democrats to scrap a ballot that listed party-endorsed candidates together in a bracketed group on the ballot — commonly called the county line — while listing others outside the bracket. New Jersey is the only state to set its primary ballots in this way.

Democratic Rep. Andy Kim filed the lawsuit as part of his bid for the Senate seat held by indicted Sen. Bob Menendez, who said he would not run in the primary. Republicans will not be affected by Quraishi's order; the judge said it applies only to Democrats and only to the June 4 election.