Fusion voting impact on Lancaster politics / voters

In a recent ‘Another Voice’ submittal Jeremy Zellner, County Board of Elections chairman of the Erie County Democratic Committee and Democratic commissioner of the Erie, wrote:

With fusion voting a thing of the past, minor parties will nominate candidates who truly represent their philosophical goals, giving voters a meaningful choice on Election Day.

The Green Party currently refuses to cross-endorse those who don’t share their environmental vision, and this should be the standard for every political organization that asks New Yorkers for their vote.

https://buffalonews.com/2019/01/06/a...fusion-voting/

In the 2017 Lancaster Council election the Green Party cross endorsed the two Democratic Party candidates. According to Zellner, the two democrats supported the Green Party’s philosophical goals and were the reason for the cross endorsement.

The Conservative Party endorsed the two Republican Party candidates because they believed them to be the two candidates best aligning with their philosophical goals. Did they not meet the same standard as the Green Party?

The Independence Party cross-endorsed a Democrat and a Republican. Both candidates were endorsed by their respective parties. Did they both share same philosophical ideologies or was the election line for all minor parties settled by primary winners?

In the 2017 Lancaster council election there were four candidates vying for two seats. There were eight parties filling 16 ballot lines. If I am correct, Zellner is looking to reduce the ballot field to four lines, where the ballot might look like:

Democratic candidate(s) – D, G, WF, WE

Republican candidate(s) – R, C, I, Ref.

Now that may cut the work down for the busy BOE, but it takes away from unaffiliated party voters (blanks) like me, and somewhere between 20-25% of Lancaster voters who:

#1 Although voting for both democratic or republican candidates, but never a straight line, don’t want to be counted in with any major party

#2 Want to see the results of the minor party line vote count

Mr. Zellner’s logic would be acceptable if primaries were eliminated and the endorsing of party candidates lay solely in the hands of the committees of all parties and not later influenced by candidates ‘stealing’ the party’s endorsement and election line with unsavory political influence, outright lies, etc.

In today’s ‘Another Voice’ Ralph Lorigo, Chairman of the Erie County Conservative Party refuted Mr. Zellner’s claim, declaring fusion voting and minor parties raise voter participation rate:

I found Fusion voting is simply the right of each organized political party to endorse the candidate of their choice. This is guaranteed by the Constitution of the State of New York as stated in a New York Court of Appeals case, Hopper, et al. v. Britt, et al., Oct. 10, 1911.

The existence of these minor parties actually encourages voting because people are more motivated to vote for the issues they believe in.

Numerous polls and surveys have shown that minor parties in New York strongly influence voter turnout, improve competition, bring new ideas and mobilize voters who believe their voice will be heard.

https://buffalonews.com/2019/01/13/a...participation/

Well said, Mr. Lorigo.