NJ MODERATE PARTY ARGUES FOR REVIVAL OF FUSION VOTING AT APPELLATE DIVISION ORAL ARGUMENT

Election Reform Litigation Moves Forward with Promise of More Robust Democracy and More Representation for the Political Center

MORRISTOWN, NJ – Today, the New Jersey Moderate Party called for the revival of fusion voting in oral arguments before the Superior Court of the New Jersey Appellate Division. The arguments in litigation titled, In Re Malinowski, challenge the state’s ban on fusion voting.

The case has the potential to make a modest but also meaningful shift in how New Jersey conducts its elections. If it succeeds, voters in New Jersey will see their freedoms of speech and association strengthened. And the New Jersey Moderate Party, which brought this lawsuit, will be in a position to offer them a new and constructive choice.

Richard Wolfe, a founder of the NJ Moderate Party, the former Republican mayor of East Amwell Township and also a party to the case, said, “State laws that deny me and other voters who identify with moderate or centrist politics the opportunity to vote for a candidate of our choice running on a party line that we support, denies us the opportunity to use the ballot box to both vote for the candidate of our choice and at the same time convey an important political message.”

The legal action was brought by the Moderate Party of New Jersey, Wolfe and two other moderate voters – all current or former Republicans. In 2022, the Moderate Party sought to nominate Tom Malinowksi as its candidate for Congress. The NJ Secretary of State denied the nominating petitions under the state’s anti-fusion laws because Malinowski was the nominee of the Democratic Party. In response, the Moderate Party and these voters sued the NJ Secretary of State, asking the court to recognize the unconstitutionality of the Secretary’s decision under New Jersey’s expansive constitutional protections.

The Moderate Party’s lawsuit argues the ban on fusion voting violates the state’s constitution, including the right to vote, free speech, assembly, association, right of suffrage, and equal protection. Oblivious to the realities of 100 years ago and today, the State is defending a law passed by a small cabal of political bosses who were seeking to squelch democratic civil discourse.

Wolfe elaborated on the stakes – and opportunities – presented by the litigation:

“The New Jersey Moderate Party wants to reverse the trend of hyper-polarization and the danger it poses to our country. Our goal is to bring both of the major political parties closer to the center. To achieve this objective, we need to identify, nominate, support and help elect viable moderate candidates who will strive to protect the basic foundations of our democracy and are willing to work collegially and respectfully with people of different viewpoints, to achieve sensible solutions to the major issues facing our country. Current New Jersey law bars us from exercising our constitutional rights to do that. We are confident the courts will right that wrong and let us restore civility and collaboration to the political process, and protect the principles of democracy upon which our country was founded.”

The case has already drawn in political heavyweights. Former Governor Whitman (R) and former U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli (D) teamed up in an op-ed to support the New Jersey Moderate Party’s effort to re-legalize fusion voting in the Garden State: “Bringing back fusion would strengthen the center of American politics. Otherwise we’re trapped in a badly-designed game that is now driving our country towards a cliff.”  A cross-partisan group of organizations, former members of Congress and academics have also filed amicus briefs supporting the New Jersey Moderate Party’s lawsuit.

The principal and amicus briefs can be viewed on the website of Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan, pro-democracy, anti-authoritarianism  group that helped argue the case::

https://protectdemocracy.org/work/bringing-back-fusion-voting/#case-documents