Electoral fusion is an arrangement where two or more
political parties support a common
candidate, pooling the votes for all those parties. By offering to endorse or nominate a major party's candidate, minor parties can influence the candidate's platform.
Electoral fusion survives to this day within the Labour Party which fields Labour Co-operative Party candidates in general elections in various areas.
Electoral fusion was once widespread in the United States. In the late 19th century, however, as minor political parties such as the People's Party became increasingly successful in using fusion, state legislatures enacted bans against it. One Republican Minnesota state legislator was clear about what his party was trying to do "We don't propose to allow the Democrats to make allies of the Populists, Prohibitionists, or any other party, and get up combination tickets against us. We can whip them single-handed, but don't intend to fight all creation." (Spoiling for a Fight, 227-228). The creation of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party made this particular tactical position obsolete. By 1907 the practice had been banned in 18 states; today, fusion as conventionally practiced remains legal in only eight states, namely
In several other states, notably New Hampshire, fusion is legal when primary elections are won by write-in candidates.
