On June 27, the Massachusetts Secretary of State said that the “fusion” initiative now has enough signatures and will be on the November 2006 ballot. The initiative would legalize fusion (the ability of two parties to jointly nominate the same candidate). It would also make it far easier for a party to remain on the ballot. The Working Families Party sponsored this initiative.
Ballot Access News
Edited By Richard Winger
It will be interesting to see whether the Green Rainbow Party of Massachusetts takes a position for or against this initiative. (Maybe they already have, but I didn’t see any prominent note of it on their web site.) Some Greens have been vocally critical of fusion strategies. I have often heard Howie Hawkins, the Green candidate for U.S. Senate in New York this year, say “fusion is confusion,” and I note the New York Greens hardly ever (if ever) cross-nominate candidates with other parties (especially the major parties).
We turned in 23,000 signatures to get the WFP certified here in Oregon. The sec state is culling the pile. Proud to have gathered them all with acorn staff, working america canvassers, and volunteers. Good luck, our major challenge is voter education on fusion.
Greens in Mass have been mostly hostile, but officially haven’t taken a position. We are hoping that they will come around to see the benefits of cross endorsement voting.