LP Politics: Fusion: Changing how we vote.
Ok, I think this has potential, but the way the ballots currently work (going on the assumption that they work as shown below) seems to be unfair to me. The fact that the ballot shows John Smith listed twice would appear to give him an unfair advantage over Matt Jones, and I can see how this would cause people consternation. I think there is a simple way to remedy this situation, that being to cast your vote for a candidate on one page/screen, and to choose which party platform separately. On a paper ballot this may make it possible to cast a vote for the republican candidate, but put him under the democratic party, even if he was not on their ballot, but so what? Using electronic voting it would be easy to filter which party you could select based on which parties endorse the candidate, but I don’t know that we would necessarily want to do that anyway. Let the people have a choice as to which parties ideologies they want to choose. I could want to vote for the Republican candidate, but endorse the democrats if I thought the candidate they put up stunk. This would send a message to both the Republican candidate that he needs to be aware that he needs to take consideration of the democrats ideologies, and to the democratic party to pick someone better next time.
Poll after poll demonstrates that Americans are hungry for both "clean" politics and alternative political parties. Yet in our winner-takes-all election system, it is extremely difficult for third or minor parties to attract the votes necessary to have a meaningful impact on elections, let alone to elect enough policy makers to advance a legislative program. The only real impact that third parties typically have on elections is to "spoil", or pull votes from a less desirable candidate, causing their least desirable candidate to win.
Fusion, once legal in all states and commonly practiced throughout the country, occurs when a third or minor party combines forces with a dominant party or other smaller parties to run a single candidate on multiple party lines. It makes possible something that many citizens wish they could do: to cast a protest vote that counts without throwing the election to the candidate they find least desirable.
Fusion also allows minor parties to demonstrate in clear, measurable terms, the level of support they provide to a candidate, thus giving them greater influence with candidates, elected officials and major political parties in policy and legislative matters. Also, minor parties that use their ballot line to endorse the candidate of another party are powerfully motivated to educate, persuade and turn-out voters. Thus fusion becomes a tool for promoting greater participation in the electoral process as minor parties mobilize the electorate to achieve their aims.
How it works
Fusion makes it possible for more than one party to endorse the same candidate. As a result, voters can cast ballots for third-party candidates without spoiling election results. Here’s how it can work:
| Candidate/Ballot Line | Percent of Vote | |||
| John Smith, Democrat |
48%
| | ||
| Matt Jones, Republican |
49%
| | ||
| John Smith, Working Families |
3%
|
The votes are added together, and John Smith wins with 51% of the vote. But he also knows that without the support of the Working Families Party, he would have lost. And the Working Families Party presumably is able to influence John Smith’s platform, legislative initiatives and votes!