Howdy folks,
On Tues, June 25 on Redneck Gone Green the Redneck (that’s me) is going to talk about the Working Families Party and their commitment to the Fusion Voting strategy.
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Below my signature are my thoughts and links to a few essays for folks who want to go deeper on these topics. As always, we ask you to participate in this growing community by liking, commenting, and sharing our content.
Onward to the world we deserve,
David Cobb (he/him)
Why I put my pronouns in my email signature
In essence, Fusion Voting allows a candidate to appear on multiple party lines in an election. The premise is that this approach will foster coalition-building and facilitate the expression of more diverse political representation. The argument is that this approach offers voters greater choice and allows smaller parties to influence outcomes without risking the “spoiler effect.” The Working Families Party has been the most vocal and consistent advocate for reviving Fusion Voting.
It should be noted that in the US Supreme Court decision Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party (1997) the Court held that Fusion is allowable only if the state election code provides for it. Currently there are 8 states that allow fusion voting. These states include:
Connecticut
Delaware
Idaho
Mississippi
New York
Oregon
South Carolina
Vermont
So what have we learned from these states? I believe it is clear that the result of Fusion Voting has been to weaken any movement towards a truly independent Third Party. Bluntly, the Working Families Party is (and has always been) inexorably tied to the Democratic Party and tries to nudge them into a slightly more liberal position. Here are a few essays that might prove helpful. Note that some of these authors advocate for Fusion Voting, and others clearly do not.
Working Families Party caves once again
New York’s Working Families Party instructs delegates to vote for Clinton
Working-Class Politics Without the Working Class
Since Fusion requires amending the election code anyway, I believe progressives should be championing Proportional Representation (sometimes called PR) instead of Fusion. Proportional Representation is far more democratic than fusion voting because it ensures that political parties and ideologies are represented in proportion to their popular support.
Proportional Representation systems allocate seats based on the percentage of votes each party receives, fostering truly diverse representation while greatly reducing (or even eliminating) the risk of wasted votes. In contrast, fusion voting allows minor parties to cross-endorse major party candidates, diluting distinct party identities and complicating voter choices.
Proportional Representation promotes a clearer reflection of voter preferences and encourages a broader spectrum of voices in governance, enhancing democratic legitimacy by minimizing distortions caused by winner-takes-all electoral systems. These essays provide persuasive and compelling arguments for Proportional Representation:
The Case for Proportional Representation