For decades, the League of Women Voters of New Jersey has fought to make our state government work for all its residents. Joining with other nonpartisan partners, we launched the biggest “Get Out The Vote” effort in New Jersey’s history, committing to engage one million infrequent voters. We helped establish fairer district maps; brought early voting, online voter registration, and ballot drop boxes to the state, and fought for restoring voting rights for people on parole and probation. All this work has been rooted in one key principle: we want a government of, by and for its people. 

We also believe in telling people the truth. And the truth right now is that our government isn’t working very well. All of us, regardless of our personal views on the issues, need our government to be good at solving problems. And that means that the people we elect to represent us must be good at making compromises and building coalitions. But it’s been years since that was what drove politics in either Washington or closer to home in Trenton, our state capitol. These days, both major parties are at loggerheads. There’s no incentive to reach across the aisle—indeed people who do are sometimes punished for doing so by their own partisans. 

This is bad for voters, regardless of party. But we can do better. One change that would be especially meaningful in this hyper partisan, polarized moment is the revival of fusion voting. It will allow for the emergence of a more powerful “center” in state politics. In the words of the Wall Street Journal, it will help “turn down the temperature” of our sometimes not-so-civil political discourse.  

Fusion is straightforward. It lets citizens form new “third” parties but it does not force those new parties into the famous wasted vote or spoiler box. It allows a new, minor party to cross-nominate a candidate who is also the nominee of one of the major parties. But in doing so  – by getting even a few percentage points of the overall vote under that new party banner –  the minor party can actually play a very constructive role in our elections. Both major parties will seek its support, and that will help  political leaders in both major parties understand the need for more bargaining and compromise in our politics.  

That’s the ambition of the NJ Moderate Party, the plaintiff in the legislation to have the ban on fusion voting and fusion parties repealed.  They believe a new centrist fusion party could push politics and government in a positive direction by making room for new ideas, and incentivizing elected representatives to focus more on problem-solving than scoring points against each other.  

Unfortunately, the state Supreme Court recently decided to not hear the case for overturning the state’s ban on fusion voting. The plaintiffs have nevertheless not given up, and will soon file a motion requesting that the Court reconsider that decision. 

Promisingly, the case has attracted national attention from across the political spectrum. An impressive and crosspartisan list of former state political leaders, legal experts and public interest organizations have taken a public stance in favor of re-legalizing fusion voting. Among them are governors Christine Todd Whitman (R) and Jon Corzine (D), attorney general John Farmer (R), state treasurers Bradley Abelow (D) and Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff (R) as well organizations across the political spectrum: the ACLU of New Jersey, Cato Institute, Rainey Center, and the Brennan Center for Justice. As leaders of the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, we are proud to add our organization to this illustrious group. 

We believe the New Jersey Supreme Court should bring its full attention to this case and the arguments in favor of fusion voting. It’s not magic, and it won’t solve every problem in our political system, but it will help lessen the destructive cycle playing out between our two major parties. While it’s true that the state legislature could relegalize fusion voting as easily as it banned it more than a century ago, the truth is that incumbents are not likely to reform the system that got them into office. There is a long tradition of the courts stepping in to address systemic discrimination in our political system. Now is the time for New Jersey to take the lead. We urge our state’s Supreme Court justices to grant the Request for Reconsideration and fully consider the merits of their case that this is a moment for bold action in defense of democracy.