What's in a name: the power of fusion politics in a local election.

Polity, January, 2004 by Michelson, Melissa R.; Susin, Scott J.

I. Introduction

New York State has a long history of strong third parties. The ability of minor parties to survive in the state comes from the practice of cross-endorsements, known as "fusion" politics. State election law allows both multiple nominations and multiple ballot placements. The same candidate can be nominated by more than one political party, and each party receives a line on the election ballot on which to list the candidate. (1) This means that voters can choose a party through which to support candidates, and vote totals for each candidate are combined from among the various party lines. Although cross-endorsement is legal in nine states, New York is the only one in which fusion politics is widely practiced. Many New York voters choose to...

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