On April 12, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla and State Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel), the Majority Leader, spoke at Cal Poly Students in San Luis Obispo. They were asked about the top-two system that has been in effect in California starting in January 2011.

Senator Monning said, “It has eroded the voice of minority parties and when you look at some other democratic systems that have parliamentary representation, you see we have narrowed our choices by the top-two system. Most often it has limited the general election ballot to Democrats and Republicans. It has silenced the voice in general elections of that broader spectrum of political viewpoints.”

Secretary Padilla said little about the effect on minor parties, but he said the chief reason the legislature functions better now than in the past is because term limits for legislators were relaxed in 2012. He also said top-two may have injured voter turnout, yet inexplicably he also said, “It’s working OK.”

One can hear the entire hour at this link. The question about Prop. 14 came at the very end, near the 53 minute mark (the entire you tube is 55 minutes). Thanks to Andrew Harris for the link.