Center for Ballot Freedom

Menu

News

The Forge

Abolition, Fusion, and the Value of a Multi-Party Democracy

Delvone Michael, senior strategist with the Working Families Party, describes how fusion voting was utilized by Abolitionists before and after the Civil War, arguing that it can strengthen third parties and address the shortcomings of the current two-party system. To learn more, see Liberty Power: Antislavery Third Parties and the Transformation of American Politics by Corey Brooks, Black and White: Land, Labor, and Politics in the South, by T. Thomas Fortune, and The Negro and Fusion Politics in North Carolina by Helen G. Edmonds.

Insider NJ

Clearing Up the Confusion Around Fusion

Columnist John Van Vliet recaps the recent Princeton conference on reviving fusion in New Jersey, where state courts are currently in the process of deciding the NJ Moderate Party’s lawsuit seeking to undo the state’s long ban on the practice. He notes the broad spectrum of support: “How many issues can say that they have the support of former Governor Christine Todd Whitman, five former members of Congress (two Republicans and two Democrats, including former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt), the ACLU of New Jersey, the Cato Institute, the Rainey Center and the Libertarian Party?”

Newsweek

The Presidential Election Needs More Parties, Not More Candidates

Tom Rogers, editor-at-large, warns that a glut of independent presidential candidates running in 2024 could wreak havoc, spelling “trouble for the effort to sustain a broad coalition unified in support of democracy and the rule of law.” Instead, he argues “we should allow minor parties to cross-nominate one of the two competitive, major party candidates,” freeing voters from a false binary choice and creating incentives for more inter-party collaboration.

William Galston | Wall Street Journal

Fusion Voting Could Lower the Temperature

"If states permitted major parties to compete for a minor party’s nomination of their candidate, the winning candidate would tend to be less extreme and have a broader base of support. Fusion-minded parties wouldn’t satisfy voters who regard as unacceptable both major-party candidates, but it would leave them as free as they are now to back alternatives to these candidates. No one would lose except factions in both major parties who want their leaders to ignore moderate and centrist voters."

Rutgers Law Journal

State Constitutional Fusion Voting Claims: Textbook New Judicial Federalism in New Jersey

In interpreting the New Jersey Constitution, we look for direction to the United States Supreme Court, whose opinions can provide “valuable sources of wisdom for us.” But although that Court may be a polestar that guides us as we navigate the New Jersey Constitution, we bear ultimate responsibility for the safe passage of our ship. Our eyes must not be so fixed on that star that we risk the welfare of our passengers on the shoals of constitutional doctrine. In interpreting the New Jersey Constitution, we must look in front of us as well as above us.1

The Washington Post

Our two-party political system isn’t working. The fix? More parties.

"The way to build the health of our political parties and thus of our democracy is by ensuring meaningful competition. We might have a two-party system, but in most parts of the country, we really have only a one-party system. Even where the two parties compete, they each have an effective monopoly on opposition. Only vibrant multiparty democracy can create enough competition. We need reforms that expand the possibilities for more and better parties to form."

Opinion | The Star-Ledger

Want to encourage centrists? Tell the party bosses to back off

“An FDU poll from February showed that 56% of New Jerseyans from across the spectrum support fusion voting, while only 32% oppose it…Poll director Dan Cassino believes the reason is simple: The system needs reform, and everybody knows it. “The argument against fusion ticket laws has always been about maintaining stability,” Cassino said. “But when both sides are unhappy with the way their parties are going, that stops being a compelling case.”’

Load More