CAMDEN -- A 24-year-old progressive in the midst of challenging one of the state's most powerful Democrats is suing the Camden County Clerk's Office over what he calls its "secret" ballot practices.

Alex Law, a Voorhees Township native running against U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross in the June primary to represent the heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District, filed the suit in Camden County Superior Court last week following an ongoing dispute with the office.

Law is arguing he's been stonewalled in his attempts to get answers about how the clerk's office places candidates on ballots and is concerned Norcross could unfairly get a prime ballot spot while Law is exiled to "ballot Siberia." The suit, filed by Cherry Hill attorney Alan Schorr, claims the practice violates Law's right to equal protection under the Constitution.

"Why not just have it out there in the open?" Law said Monday afternoon. "There shouldn't be secret rules in our Democracy. It flies in the face of everything we as Americans think about how things should be done."

A spokesman for Camden County said Law's lawsuit is without merit, as the clerk's office cannot offer candidates legal guidance regarding bracketing and ballot placement, and that its bracketing and ballot placement procedures follow state statute.

"This baseless and frivolous lawsuit is a waste of taxpayer dollars on nothing more than a publicity stunt," said county spokesman Dan Keashen. "The county clerk does not provide political advice for anyone's campaign. The statute on bracketing is clear and we believe this matter will be dismissed."

Law is specifically focused on whether candidates who are bracketed -- meaning they're running on a ticket with candidates for other offices and listed with them in the same column -- are given preferential treatment over candidates running on their own.

"I don't care if we get the first column or second colum, I would just like to have the same treatment as Mr. Norcross in the drawing," said Law, referring to the random drawings county clerks hold to determine what column each candidate appears in. "I'm just asking for fair treatment on the ballot."

After a series of calls, meetings and written correspondence between the Law campaign and the clerk's office over the past three months -- including a rouse where a Law campaign staffer pretended to be working on a school project to secure a meeting -- Law said he was still being given the run-around and filed the suit as a "preemptive" measure.

The suit cites a letter from Camden County's counsel that states the county could not answer Law's "hypothetical" questions until the clerk received all ballot applications and got a full picture of the candidate pool.

"Mr. Law has the right to know the rules before deciding whether to bracket with other candidates. He has the right to know what the procedure will be so that he does not get 'shunted to the outer columns' like the Clerk did to the candidates in the 2014 election," the lawsuit claims, and includes an image of the 2014 ballot. "1 N.J.S.A 19:49-2 specifically states that the county clerk makes the rules. There is no statute for Mr. Law to consult. The sole authority lies with the clerk."

Democratic congressional candidate Alex Law points to the 2014 Camden County ballot as evidence he should be "reasonably disturbed and concerned at the Clerk's refusal to provide a [ballot placement] procedure" in a lawsuit Law filed against the county clerk's office on March 14, 2016. Law argues the Democratic primary ballot, when compared to the Republican one, shows U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross benefited by bracketing rules that allowed him to be listed in column 1 and his unbracketed opponents listed far to the right. (Images provided)

In the coming days, Law said he will announce two Democratic freeholder candidates he'll be bracketing with on the primary ballot, but he's still concerned the clerk will leave them no time to launch a legal challenge against the ballot if he thinks it's been designed to benefit his opponent.

A court hearing is scheduled for April 6, Law said, but he's also seeking a preliminary injunction to require the clerk to announce its ballot placement procedure by March 31 so candidates can be prepared for the April 4 ballot application deadline.

Bracketing Update Here is an update on the bracketing situation. Quick Version: We have two wonderful candidates running on our slate for Freeholder (names to be announced soon), and we have filed our lawsuit against the clerk to compel them to finally tell us the rules. You can see the lawsuit on our website or directly at the following links:http://media.wix.com/ugd/e38e8f_0c5b0da1a4764b9fa5db6e39aa7242e4.pdfhttp://media.wix.com/ugd/e38e8f_ba0e1dddfdb04ec8a54b6f83868b6dec.pdf Posted by Alex Law on Monday, 21 March 2016

Michelle Caffrey may be reached at mcaffrey@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ShellyCaffrey. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.