Opposing fusion voting at New York Public Campaign Financing Commission hearings has often been a lonely stance to take.

Erie County Democratic Committee Chairman Jeremy Zellner found himself a bit outnumbered at Tuesday’s hearing in Buffalo. The majority of people who spoke to the commission about fusion – the process by which candidates can run on multiple party lines and aggregate votes – urged them to protect it.

Zellner, who has a been a vocal critic for some time, was even shouted at by a member of the audience near the end of his testimony. He brushed the opposition off as minor party activists.

“I think you had a lot of people here who were trying to protect their little corner of the world,” he said.

From a political standpoint, the chairman said he opposes the undue influence given to minor parties through fusion. He said while some parties do things the “right way” others do not even have a procedure to make their endorsements.

As the Erie Democratic Elections Commissioner as well, he said fusion is expensive, creates extensive litigation and makes elections confusing.

“People want a choice and fusion voting takes away that choice. By cross-endorsing candidates, it clutters up our ballots,” Zellner said. “It is just a mess.”

While he wouldn’t concede he was in the minority on fusion at the hearing Tuesday, he said he believes many more people in the general public agree with his opinion.

“Just because somebody can get here at 11 o’clock on a Tuesday morning doesn’t mean that they’re the majority voice,” Zellner said. “I think there’s a lot of people if this thing was polled that are against this.”

The commission is required to make its recommendations by December 1 and they become binding if the Legislature doesn’t reconvene to reject them before the end of the year.