The Independent View: NY Voting Reform Could End Fusion Voting

With a New Democratic Majority New York State Legislature arriving in Albany, an Old and oft-Criticized New York Political Practice could be on the Way Out.

Currently, Eight States allow for Fusion Voting: Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Mississippi, New York, Oregon, South Carolina. and Vermont. Fusion Voting is only commonly practiced in New York. Fusion Voting permits a Candidate’s Name to Appear on Multiple Ballot Lines and Combine the Candidate's Total. Minor Ballot Qualified Parties use Fusion as a way to use their Vote to get a Candidate to add their Issues to Candidate's Campaign. The biggest reason is Qualifying for a Ballot Line for the Next Four years. All Parties need 50,000+ Votes in the Governor's Race to be Ballot Qualified.

Several other States, allow Multiple Endorsements while still Printing a Candidate’s Name just Once on the Ballot.

A “Voting Reform” Package will be one of the Early Agenda Items in Albany when the Legislature returns in January. It is likely to include items considered “low-hanging fruit,” such as combining Federal and State Primaries on One day, permitting “Early” Voting, Absentee Voting for All Voters, and easing Voter Registration. It might also include a Proposal to end Cross-Endorsements, a move favored by some Legislators.

“Fusion voting came out of the industrial Midwest by those who were trying to break single-party dominance,” said Jim Twombly, a Professor of American Politics at Elmira College. “Here in New York, the way it’s been applied” has been more about “how a minor party can feed off” Major Parties in Exchange for a Ballot Line.

Further, Minor Parties push Candidates more to the Extreme Left or Right as a Price for scoring an Endorsement. It can Result in the Fringe Parties becoming the “Tail wagging the Dog.”, calling the Shots on Policy Positions and Candidate Selections.

The Issue of Minor Party Endorsements is a “sometimes insurmountable millstone in the way of statewide election contests,” Norman Green, a Chautauqua County Elections Commissioner and a Democrat, said earlier this year in a call to End Fusion Voting.

Minor Party Officials say Multiple Ballot Lines offer Voters a Choice to Express Themselves and their Values. But really, the Practice doesn’t actually Expand the Number of Candidates, Twombly said.

With the Exception of the Green Party, the other Minors almost never Nominate their Own Candidates, but rather support a Democrat or Republican, and sometimes an Independent. Even when the Working Families Party nominated Cynthia Nixon for Governor last Spring, it eventually dumped her and backed Gov. Cuomo after he Won the Democratic Primary.

Cuomo supported Ending Cross-Endorsements in 2013, but the Idea went nowhere. But the Legislature is Vastly different now.

For removing Fusion to happen, a New Process for Minor Parties to become a Ballot Qualified must be created.