Historic Circuit Court Decision Could Lead To Explosion In Third Party
Activity
Decision Could Change Political Landscape By November, Experts Say
St. Paul, MN
In a decision with enormous potential to affect the 1996
elections, as well as lead to a dramatic increase in third party activity, the
U.S. Court of Appeals in the Eighth Circuit last week struck down
Minnesota's ban on multi-party fusion, or cross-endorsement.
"Fusion," which allows multiple political parties to endorse the same
candidate on separate ballot lines, was once a staple of American politics.
Friday's (1/5/96) decision reverses 100 years of electoral practice, and
political analysts are beginning to analyze the impact of the court's move.
Ironically, Minnesota was among the first states to outlaw fusion (in
1897), largely as an effort to undermine the worker-farmer alliance known
as the Populists.
"Re-legalizing fusion is absolutely necessary to the growth and success of
real third parties. This decision will loosen the two-party stranglehold on
our political system," said Joel Rogers, Chair of the Executive Council of
the New Party, a minor progressive party active in 12 states, which
brought the suit.
Twin Cities Area New Party v. McKenna was first filed in 1994, when
Minnesota election officials refused to allow the local New Party affiliate
to nominate an incumbent Democratic state representative as their own
candidate. Cross-endorsement fusion is critical to third party efforts since
it allows minor parties to join in coalition with major parties behind
candidates with a realistic chance of winning (see chart).
"This will give American citizens more choices at the ballot box," says the
New Party's Rogers, who teaches at the University of Wisconsin, "without
forcing us to "waste" our votes on protest candidates. By permitting third
parties to grow and function as part of the mainstream political system, it
will encourage a more representative and value-based politics."
Cornell University Professor Theodore Lowi, an important early theorist
of the "centrist" party movement of Ross Perot, agreed that the decision
could have a profound impact. "A genuine third party must attract regular
Democrats and Republicans by nominating some of them to run as
candidates with the third-party nomination as well as that of their own
party. Being listed on two lines on the ballot is a powerful incentive for
regular Democrats and Republicans to cooperate with a new party, if not
to switch over," said Lowi.
The Circuit Court's 3-0 decision in Twin Cities Area New Party v.
McKenna applies to the seven midwestern states (MN, IA, MO, AR, NE,
SD, ND) in the Eighth Circuit, but could pave the way for challenges to
fusion bans across the country. Challenges are already moving through the
legal system in Pennsylvania (3rd Circuit) and New Mexico (8th Circuit),
and more are expected to be brought this year by the New Party and Ross
Perot's Reform Party. The Supreme Court will likely be asked to rule on
the issue this year, as there is now a "split" in lower federal courts, with
the 7th Circuit ruling against fusion in a 1992 Wisconsin case.
"This is a great victory not only for the people of Minnesota but those
around the country," said New Party member Lisa Disch. This will allow
us to build coalitions with other parties and bring in the thousands of
voters who have been alienated by the status quo."
Although many observers believe the short term impact will be to allow
Ross Perot's Reform Party or Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition to cross-
endorse a Presidential or Congressional candidates in 1996, the real
impact will be felt over time, according to New Party National Organizer
Dan Cantor. "People are sick of the two major parties bickering, and
they're even more tired of both parties being owned by the same big-
money contributors. But until now there hasn't been a way for minor
parties to get noticed by the media in national or state-level electoral
politics. Now we can."
The New Party has backed 123 candidates in the last two years, winning
83 elections, nearly all of them at the municipal, county and school board
level. Fashioned after the "Christian Coalition," the New Party's main
concerns are campaign finance reform, economic reconstruction of urban
America, and public education.
