The Moderate Party was formed by a small group of Republicans, Democrats and Independents, some of whom are current or former elected officials in New Jersey.

Our two major political parties — the Republican Party and the Democratic Party — are growing more extreme and entrenched in their positions on issues that are important at the federal, state and local levels.

The two parties have become so polarized that they refuse to compromise, or even negotiate, with each other on major issues.

Often, these two major political parties ignore the actual facts, and instead espouse their distorted, inaccurate version of the facts, in an effort to promote their far right or far left agenda.

The two parties essentially are at war with each other, each party seeking to destroy the other, rather than working together to serve the best interests of their constituents. When there’s a fire, each party brings gasoline, rather than water.

The American people are the casualties of this war. Major issues go unresolved, because our federal and state (and often our local) governments are paralyzed.

Equally concerning is that this polarization of the two major political parties is perpetuating itself.

Individuals who run for office typically face a primary, whether they are running for the first time or for re-election. To obtain the support of their party’s “base” of primary voters — who generally have views significantly more extreme than the party’s members as a whole — these individuals either must themselves adopt (or profess to adopt) those extreme views or risk losing the primary to another candidate who articulates those extreme views. So who faces off in the general election? Not the moderate candidates, but the extreme ones. And one of them will win and go on to perpetuate the polarization.

Furthermore, this polarization, and the distortion of the facts that accompanies it, is causing neighbors to hate neighbors, solely because of their party affiliation.

The founders of the Moderate Party want to reverse this polarization and the danger it poses to our country. Their goal is to bring both of the major political parties closer to the center. They want to restore civility and collaboration to the political process.

The founders of the Moderate Party believe that the majority of the voters in New Jersey and in our country are neither far right, nor far left in their political views, but rather are at or close to the center on most issues. In other words, the majority of voters are “moderates.”

These moderate voters feel, and rightly so, that their values and beliefs are no longer represented by either of the two major political parties. These moderate voters feel “homeless.”

The Moderate Party is intended to be a home for these voters. A vehicle through which moderate voters can send a clear message to both the Republican and Democratic Parties to stop the petty political bickering and backstabbing, and work together to achieve what’s best for their constituents — sensible solutions to the major issues facing our country.

The Moderate Party would enable voters, whether registered as a Republican, Democrat, or Independent, to support candidates for public office who meet the criteria described above. Candidates who support moderate positions and are willing to reach across the aisle to work with those having different viewpoints, in an effort to achieve sensible and productive compromises on important issues.

The Moderate Party would also enable moderate candidates to run and win as a moderate, rather than having to pander to the far right or far left elements of their party.

By voting for candidates on the Moderate Party line on the ballot, voters not only will be supporting moderate candidates, but they also will be telling both major parties that the voters do not support, and in fact are tired of, the extreme positions being taken by the two major parties.

Choosing our Candidates

At this time, the Moderate Party does not intend to run its own candidates, at least at the federal and state levels. There are two reasons for this.

First, recent history has shown that third-party candidates rarely win at the state and federal levels. Accordingly, the Moderate Party believes it will have a greater likelihood of achieving its objective if it nominates and supports candidates who are also on the ballot as a Republican or Democrat.

Second, running its own candidate could undermine the objective of the Moderate Party. A third party candidate tends to take votes away from the major party candidate whose views are most closely aligned with those of the third party candidate. Thus, if the Moderate Party ran its own candidate for a state or federal office, (i) that candidate, as noted above, is unlikely to win, and (ii) that candidate would take votes away the Republican or Democratic candidate that is, or is closest to being, a moderate, thereby potentially handing a victory to the major-party candidate who is not a moderate.

Accordingly, at least at the federal and state levels, the Moderate Party intends to nominate and support candidates who are on the ballot as a Republican candidate or a Democrat candidate and are moderate in their views.

Fusion Voting

The Moderate Party proposes to achieve its objective — getting moderate candidates elected to office — through so-called “fusion voting.”

Fusion voting allows a candidate to appear on the ballot as the candidate of more than one party. For example, a Democratic Party candidate could appear on the ballot as the candidate of the Democratic Party and a candidate of the Moderate Party. A voter could vote for that candidate either by checking the Democratic Party box on the ballot or by checking the Moderate Party box on the ballot.

In determining whether that candidate won the election, the votes for that candidate under the Democratic Party would be added to the votes for that candidate under the Moderate Party. If that total number of votes is greater than the number of votes received by that candidate’s opponent, in all the columns where the opponent is listed, that candidate would win the election.

For example, if a Democratic candidate who is also a Moderate Party candidate received 9,000 votes as the Democratic Party candidate and 5,000 votes as the Moderate Party candidate, that candidate would win the election if no other candidate received at least 14,000 votes.

The Benefits to Voters of Fusion Voting

Fusion voting provides two very significant benefits to all voters — Republicans, Democrats and Independents.

First, fusion voting allows a voter to vote for a moderate candidate without supporting that candidate’s major party. For example, assume a voter who is a registered Republican wants to vote for a Democratic Party candidate who is a moderate, but that Republican voter does not want to support the Democratic Party. That Republican voter can vote for the moderate candidate under the Moderate Party.

Second, fusion voting allows voters, whether Republican, Democrat or Independent, to send a clear and strong message that they support moderate candidates.

New York and Connecticut permit fusion voting. Currently, New Jersey does not. (Prior to the 1920s, fusion voting was permitted in New Jersey. In the 1920s, the two major parties, in an effort to enhance their duopoly, got legislation passed that banned fusion voting in New Jersey.)

The Moderate Party believes the New Jersey’s ban of fusion voting violates the constitutional rights of voters in New Jersey. The Moderate Party is seeking to have that ban overturned in the courts (or legislatively).

New Jersey’s ban of fusion voting undoubtedly contributes to low turnouts at the polls in New Jersey elections. Here’s why.

Assume a voter who is a registered Republican wants to vote for a Democratic Party candidate who is a moderate, but that Republican voter does not want to support the Democratic Party. Under New Jersey’s current voting rules, that Republican voter has three choices:

1) Vote for the Democratic candidate and thereby support a party (the Democratic Party) that the Republican voter abhors.

2) Vote for the Republican candidate and thereby forgo voting for the voter’s preferred candidate.

3) Don’t vote at all.

Often, the voter will choose alternative three. As a result, our political process suffers.

The Moderate Party wants to expand the rights of New Jersey voters by offering them a fourth alternative.

In the example above, the moderate Democratic Party candidate would appear on the ballot as a candidate of both the Democratic Party and the Moderate Party. The Republican voter could vote for that candidate, who is the voter’s preferred candidate, by checking the Moderate Party box on the ballot. This allows the Republican voter to vote for the candidate of their choice, without supporting the Democratic Party.

While there is no universally accepted definition of a “moderate” politician, the Moderate Party will seek to support candidates for public office who have a demonstrated belief in the following principles:

– Put the interests of our country and their constituents over party loyalty and the interests of their donors.

– Strive to protect the basic foundations of our democracy, such as free and fair elections, an independent, non-political judiciary, civil service, and settling differences by voting, not by violence.

– Work collegially and respectfully with people of different viewpoints, to achieve sensible solutions to the major issues facing our country.

– Make decisions based on proven facts and science, rather than the “party line.”

– Believe in an open and transparent government, that is equally accessible to all.

– Seek to achieve sound fiscal, economic and immigration policies, not constrained by “party line” limitations.

– Work to assure that our cities and towns are safe.

At this time, the Moderate Party is focusing on candidates in New Jersey running for county, state or federal office.

Candidates interested in obtaining the support of the Moderate Party can email us at info@njmoderateparty.org.