“The line is not an all-or-nothing thing. But it’s just enough of a thumb on a scale that it tips it,” say critics like Sue Altman — who want to erase the “line” — a powerful tool that New Jersey political parties use to nudge voters toward their preferred candidates by structuring ballots that visually skew their choices.

Critics say the party line favors incumbents and gives far too much power to party bosses. Altman’s New Jersey Working Families Alliance has sued to abolish the party line. Micah Rasmussen,  director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, says some candidates do run off-line and win. “It does happen; it’s just few and far between. You’ve got to out-organize, you’ve got to out-raise, you’ve got to out-hustle the party.”