A Solution for Hyper-Partisan Division
The Center for Ballot Freedom aims to reduce the extreme partisan polarization inherent in our two-party system, replacing it with a healthy, vibrant multiparty democracy.
The Issue
The American political system is broken. We’re in a two-party “doom loop” in which Republicans and Democrats each see the other as mortal enemies, not merely political opponents. This leads them to focus on winning power at all costs, instead of on solving the nation’s problems.
Polls regularly show that huge majorities of the public want more choices than just the two major parties. But in today’s system, a vote for a third-party candidate is a wasted vote that can only spoil elections. This needs to change.
We want America to move away from a brittle, dangerously dysfunctional two-party system that incentivizes extremism and discourages coalition and compromise, and towards a vibrant, functional multiparty democracy in which coalition and compromise are incentivized and rewarded. That is only possible if we alter how we run elections in concrete, realistic ways that make it possible for additional parties to form, engage meaningfully, and thrive.
The Center for Ballot Freedom is a unique structural reform initiative led by a cross-partisan coalition focused on reviving and relegalizing fusion voting in order to solve our nation’s polarization problem.
What is Fusion Voting?
Fusion voting allows a candidate for public office to be nominated by more than one party in a given race – with two or more parties “fusing” on a single candidate – and in doing so allow new voices, new ideas, and new parties to emerge.
Typically third parties are a waste of time. Their candidates are doomed to be little more than spoilers. But with fusion voting, third parties can become more constructive actors.
The votes for a candidate under a minor party banner count the same as those on the major party line, but it’s a way for the minor party to gain and demonstrate support amongst the public. And it’s a way for voters to send a signal – without spoiling or wasting one’s vote – to the candidate and to the major parties to pay attention to that third party’s platform and priorities.