Center for Ballot Freedom
banner
centerforballotfreedom.org
Center for Ballot Freedom
@centerforballotfreedom.org
America’s political system is broken. We are a cross-partisan nonprofit project that aims to protect and strengthen American democracy by reviving #FusionVoting 🗳️✨ Learn more: https://centerforballotfreedom.org/
Pinned
Imagine fusion voting legal again in all 50 states — opening the door to real coalitions, stronger accountability, and voters supporting candidates and the values they believe in. More voice. More choice. A healthier democracy. This future is possible. 🗳️✨
Fusion allowed candidates to appear on multiple party ballots, strengthening minority voices and fostering broader coalitions that challenged the rigid two-party system. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
January 29, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Episode 11 of This Old Democracy: Host Micah Sifry talks with Didi Kuo on why American parties—despite their power—fail democracy. Parties should translate public will & guide voters, but now they mainly chase elections, not serve citizens.

🎧 Listen: centerforballotfreedom.org/this-old-dem...
This Old Democracy: A Project of the Center for Ballot Freedom
This Old Democracy is a regular podcast that explores the ideas, movements, and people working to rescue our faltering political system — and rebuild American democracy on a stronger, more inclusive,…
centerforballotfreedom.org
January 28, 2026 at 5:02 PM
📊 New study in American Politics Research examines what drives the use of fusion voting, the practice where minor parties cross-nominate major-party candidates. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Explaining Variation in the Use of Electoral Fusion - Daniel J. Lee, Tanner Bates, 2025
We analyze fusion candidacies (i.e., minor-party cross-nominations of major-party candidates) in New York congressional elections from 1978 to 2018. In addition...
journals.sagepub.com
January 28, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Fusion voting is simple: it lets citizens form new parties without wasting votes or playing spoiler. Minor parties can cross-nominate candidates also backed by major parties, expanding choice without splitting the vote. @lwvnj.bsky.social
January 27, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Fusion voting isn’t just about ballots; it’s about broadening democratic participation, helping coalitions form, and giving voters more meaningful choices. read.dukeupress.edu/nps/article-...
Third-Party Politics, Political “Fusion,” and Radical Democracy in the Nineteenth-Century United States
Abstract. Third-party radicalism in the nineteenth-century United States challenges the notion that representative institutions impede radical change. Historians of that period document two specific…
read.dukeupress.edu
January 27, 2026 at 2:03 PM
In this hyper-polarized moment, reviving fusion voting could make a real difference, strengthening a pragmatic center in state politics and, as the Wall Street Journal put it, helping turn down the temperature on our not-so-civil political discourse. @lwvnj.bsky.social
January 26, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Anger at the system has unleashed real political energy. The question is whether it fuels authoritarianism — or a democratic renewal. Fusion voting could be the answer, channeling that energy into broad coalitions, real representation, and a rebuilt democracy. www.jsonline.com/story/opinio...
January 26, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Re-legalizing fusion voting—the work we’re doing with the Center for Ballot Freedom—gives voters more party choices without the spoiler problem. More voice, more leverage, no wasted votes. @ianbassin.bsky.social @protectdemocracy.org
January 23, 2026 at 5:02 PM
The @workingfamilies.org—born in NYC as an early fusion voting champion—used cross-endorsements to build real power against machine politics. Fusion voting helped diversify choices and elevate progressive voices in a city long dominated by Tammany Hall. www.city-journal.org/article/zohr...
The New Far-Left Political Machine
Heading into 2026, New York City’s Hipster Tammany Hall is backing Democratic primary challengers in the five boroughs and beyond.
www.city-journal.org
January 23, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Center for Ballot Freedom
Reposted by Center for Ballot Freedom
In a post-VRA world, fusion parties offer a powerful tool: giving political, racial, ethnic, and other minorities real leverage without wasted or “spoiler” votes, and forcing major parties to compete for their support. If our rights are under attack, we build new tools.
January 22, 2026 at 11:00 PM
Reposted by Center for Ballot Freedom
The Supreme Court is on the verge of gutting the Voting Rights Act, especially Section 2. That’s devastating for fair representation. But the fight isn’t over.
January 22, 2026 at 11:00 PM
Fusion voting gives people a seat at the table — a real chance to join the conversations that matter to them and exercise meaningful agency.
January 22, 2026 at 5:04 PM
Episode 10 of This Old Democracy: Micah Sifry talks with Tom Rogers of the ABA Task Force about urgent reforms to strengthen democracy. Key takeaway: fusion voting could help reduce polarization and support centrist consensus-building candidates.

🎧 Listen: centerforballotfreedom.org/this-old-dem...
January 22, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Fusion voting can make a meaningful difference in a few key ways by expanding choice, strengthening coalitions, and giving voters more voice in our democracy. @protectdemocracy.org
January 21, 2026 at 5:03 PM
In this podcast episode, @politicsprof.bsky.social & Stephen Richer discuss how fusion voting expands representation and strengthens third parties. Learn more from @harvardash.bsky.social ash.harvard.edu/articles/is-...
Is Fusion Voting Fair? – Ash Center
ash.harvard.edu
January 21, 2026 at 2:01 PM
Fusion voting allows a political party to nominate a candidate already backed by another party. Every state permitted it more than 100 years ago. Today, only New York and Connecticut still do.
January 20, 2026 at 5:04 PM
📘 New research argues fusion voting can reduce polarization by empowering minor parties, strengthening coalition-building, and expanding voters’ freedom of association, and suggests bans on fusion voting may be unconstitutional. Learn more: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Fusion and the Freedom to Associate to a Better Politics
<p>As public confidence in American democracy is at an all-time low, interest in the relegalization of fusion voting is on the rise. Once a staple in U.S. elect
papers.ssrn.com
January 20, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Imagine fusion voting legal again in all 50 states — opening the door to real coalitions, stronger accountability, and voters supporting candidates and the values they believe in. More voice. More choice. A healthier democracy. This future is possible. 🗳️✨
January 19, 2026 at 5:03 PM
On #MLKDay, we honor Dr. King’s vision of a just and representative democracy. #FusionVoting—where multiple parties can unite behind shared candidates—can help break barriers, amplify diverse voices, and build coalitions for real change. #ElectionReform
January 19, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Reposted by Center for Ballot Freedom
Funny thing is, if Elon were serious about that third party he flirted with, he’d have looked at that ballot and said: ah, that’s how you do it. Free advice, Elon.
January 16, 2026 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Center for Ballot Freedom
Remember Election Day when Elon Musk decided the NYC ballot was a “scam” because Zohran Mamdani and Curtis Sliwa appeared twice? That wasn’t fraud; it was fusion voting. Same candidate, multiple party lines, voters choose both the person and the values.
January 16, 2026 at 5:24 PM
Fusion voting creates real space for minor parties to grow and flourish — building skills, organization, and deep community ties. That’s how new parties become vehicles for reform, not spoilers on the sidelines. @jrdresden.bsky.social @protectdemocracy.org
January 16, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Three reasons to listen to Episode 9 of This Old Democracy with @bradlander.bsky.social:

1️⃣ Insider’s view on NYC politics
2️⃣ How fusion voting & reforms shape careers
3️⃣ Heartwarming stories—from campaign volunteers to rice debates in the Bronx

🎧 Listen: centerforballotfreedom.org/this-old-dem...
January 16, 2026 at 2:01 PM