NYT editorial board tries to make a case against "Fusion"

[Statistikhengst]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/01/o...tml?emc=edit_th_20151001&nl=todaysheadlines&n


To get what this is about, you need to understand what "Fusion" means:

Electoral fusion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"an arrangement where two or more political parties on a ballot list the same candidate, pooling the votes for that candidate. Distinct from the process of electoral alliances in that the political parties remain separately listed on the ballot, the practice of electoral fusion in jurisdictions where it exists allows minor parties to influence election results and policy by offering to endorse or nominate a major party's candidate."

Fusion exists (legally) in all of New York State, Oregon and in Milwaukee, WI.

I got the first information about this from Richard Winger of Ballot Access:

Ballot Access News - New York Times Calls on New York Legislature to Abolish Fusion

He indicated that in the 1912 NY constitution, Fusion is enshrined in said Constitution.

Here is the modern Constitution of NY state:

New York State Constitution

I see no direct reference to Fusion in that constitition.

Anyway, with all that pre-information, back to the very first link (NYT):

New York State has two big political parties — Democratic and Republican — on its ballot as well as an assortment of smaller parties. That might seem harmless, but in the strange, convoluted netherworld of New York politics, a lot of the minor parties are useless and mysterious. They clog the ballot, warp the debate and confuse the voters.

What makes this system especially confounding is that a candidate’s name can appear on two or more ballot lines. Last year, New Yorkers could vote for Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the Democratic, Working Families, Independence or Women’s Equality Party.

Now, New York Republicans are trying to get rid of the Women’s Equality Party, which favors Democrats.

The party was created last year by Mr. Cuomo to show the governor’s support for women’s issues and appeal to women voters. Republican lawyers, citing procedural problems in the party’s creation, are fighting in more than a dozen counties to get it bumped from ballots in November’s local and state elections.

The Republicans have not challenged the minor parties that normally support them, like the Conservative Party and the Stop Common Core Party, now undergoing a name change to the Reform Party. Even so, their challenge to the Women’s Equality Party is just and makes sense; it was a fake party to begin with. A few female politicians liked the idea, while many others found the idea of a separate party insulting.

More at the link.

My feeling is that Fusion will still be a part of the New York landscape.

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

I've never heard of this before, Interesting, Stat. Thank you.