Lawsuit Looks to Bring Back "Fusion Voting" in Wisconsin

Wednesday, April 30th, 2025 -- 8:00 AM

(Sarah Lehr, Wisconsin Public Radio) Throughout the second half of the 19th century, a single candidate could be nominated by more than one political party in Wisconsin.

But, according to Sarah Lehr with Wisconsin Public Radio, nearly 130 years ago, state lawmakers outlawed that practice. It’s been banned here ever since.

A coalition of Wisconsin voters is now suing, seeking to bring back what’s known as “fusion voting.” The progressive firm Law Forward planned to file the complaint Tuesday in Dane County Circuit Court.

If the suit is successful, Wisconsin would adopt a voting system that’s currently being used in New York state and Connecticut. There, each voter still gets one vote.

But a candidate can appear on the ballot more than once, next to every political party that endorses them. That pushes candidates to find commonalities with more than one party, and it gives minor parties other than the Republicans and Democrats more of a voice, proponents of fusion voting argue.

“This is a way to increase real political representation and political participation,” said Jeff Mandell, Law Forward’s president and general counsel. “For every single person in the state of Wisconsin who’s ever looked at a ballot or at an election and thought, ‘I don’t love either of these candidates, or I wish things were a little bit different,’ this is a way to try to advance that.”

In swing state Wisconsin, where elections are known for their ultra-thin margins, parties like the Greens or Libertarians don’t have a real seat at the table, the lawsuit contends.

“Wisconsin’s prohibition against a third party nominating a candidate also nominated by a major party forces a voter into an unappealing choice,” the lawsuit says.

“Register support for a political party the voter does not want to support, waste their vote on a third party ‘spoiler’ candidate, or choose not to vote. This denies each voter a legitimate alternative choice of political expression.”

But if fusion voting comes back to Wisconsin, the options for voters could increase, said John Franke, an attorney who helped file the lawsuit. Franke is a former Milwaukee County judge and a former federal prosecutor who previously served on Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board.

“A third of Wisconsin voters, just like throughout the country, do not identify with either major party, and those voters deserve an alternative,” Franke said, noting that a growing number of voters nationwide say they have an “unfavorable view” of both the Republican and Democratic parties.

“We represent a group of people and some individuals who are unhappy with the choices that they currently have in between the two major parties, and would like to have more competition and more choices.”

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