BERGEN COUNTY, N.J. — The decades-old political tradition known as the “county line” is officially headed for the history books after the Bergen County Clerk agreed to a settlement ending the county’s defense of the controversial primary ballot system.

The agreement makes Bergen the final county among 19 involved in lawsuits challenging the system to agree to redesigned ballots that no longer give special placement to candidates endorsed by party organizations.

The settlement still requires approval from a federal judge, but supporters say it marks the end of a six-year legal fight over a system critics argued gave too much power to county party leaders and too little to voters.

Under the old system, candidates backed by county political organizations were often grouped together in a prominent column or row on primary ballots, a design critics said gave endorsed candidates a major advantage over challengers.

The new system will use office block ballots, where candidates are grouped by the position they are seeking rather than by party endorsement. The agreement also sets additional requirements for ballot design.

“Today’s settlement is a massive win for New Jersey voters,” said U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, who challenged the ballot system during his 2024 Democratic primary campaign for U.S. Senate.

The lawsuit was first filed in 2020 by Bromberg Law LLC and Weissman & Mintz LLC. The case survived multiple attempts to dismiss it before plaintiffs secured a preliminary injunction and a major ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 2024.

“Every county clerk named in this case has now agreed to fair ballots. There’s nothing left to argue,” attorneys Yael Bromberg, Brett Pugach and Flavio Komuves said in a joint statement.

The New Jersey Working Families Party, one of the original plaintiffs, celebrated the settlement as a turning point in state politics.

“The county line is finally dead,” said Antoinette Miles, the group’s state director. “Now it’s the voters who get to write the next one.”

Supporters of the old system argued that party organization and endorsements helped voters identify candidates who shared a common platform. Opponents countered that the layout unfairly benefited insiders and made it harder for challengers to compete.

With Bergen County now joining the other counties in abandoning the old format, the primary ballot system that shaped New Jersey politics for generations appears to be gone for good.