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This bill is not fusion voting. Separate Party lines are not provided in this bill. Sb 326 is a cross-nomination bill. It allows candidates to run for political office with the nomination of up to three political parties. It is a step toward full fusion voting.

Fusion voting is good for democracy. It doesn't force anyone to do anything.  Fusion provides more choices, more information, and more accountability to more people. Fusion voting allows small political parties to play a positive role in our elections rather than a spoiler role. Full fusion voting was legal in Oregon 100 years ago and served farmers and working people well. Fusion voting allowed coalitions of urban and rural progressive citizens to elect populist candidates. Electing candidates by fusion voting makes polticians of both major parties deal with real issues affecting the daily lives of citizens. The political act of making of fusion voting illegal was in some form a political enclosure act. The political elite of the Republican and Democratic Parties set boundaries through and around the common rights of political association.The oligarchic duolopy funnels policy through a few leaders of the dominant party. Those leaders decide policy for the entire government. Fusion voting in practice forces real consensus and coalitions rather than the forced centrism of present politics which limits the boundaries of real debate. Over one quarter of Oregon voters are non- aligned. Fusion voting mandates nothing of the voters yet provides more opportunities for knowledge and a chance to be a part of a greater consensus than is presently allowed.

                                david strader

posted 3 years, 10 months ago
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