1. Under terms of the Top 2 Open Primary, candidates in California, other than for party and non-partisan offices, will be able to have their party preference on their latest registration displayed on the ballot.

   The party preference that appears on the ballot may not change between the the primary and general election, but it appears that a candidate may change his registration during this period.

   SB 6 also provides that a 10-year registration record of candidates be maintained on the Secretary of State web site. So in a case like Griffin’s a voter would be able to see that he had been a Democrat before he had been a Republican.

2. In California, the person in question could run as an independent, though. Remember Audi Bock, the Green Party elected official who ran as an independent the next time out? Of course, you already know this, Richard. I’m just pointing it out so others know also. In addition, the person could run as a write-in candidate in the primary election.

3. At least the 1787 folks had the brains to have fixed qualifications for elected Fed. officers — that the party hacks in the States can NOT mess with.

4. Don Lake wrote in a prior posting: The point is that the Establishment Duopoly is so evil that it over shadows any intra opposition squabbling and nit picking. For years I tried to get the left of center types to except and even out reach to their more conservative anti war allies to little travail.

   Phil Sawyer responds:

   Don, did you not mean to write “to little avail and much travail”? As a Left Conservative, in the tradition of the late, great, Norman Mailer; I am willing to sit down and discuss politics in a civil manner with most people. Not people who advocate racism, sexism, violence and that sort of thing, though. Nor Republicans, either. The Republican Party is now completely worthless and any person who is still a member of that party (after eight years of the Bush-Cheney Administration wreaking havoc on our country) should be ashamed of himself or herself. There is nothing that I have to say to any Republican other than that. There is nothing that I desire to hear from any Republican.

5. Demo Rep Says:
   December 22nd, 2009 at 9:53 pm
   At least the 1787 folks had the brains to have fixed qualifications for elected Fed. officers — that the party hacks in the States can NOT mess with.

   Phil Sawyer adds:

   Would not your point be a good argument against the “top-two” bill? If that bill passes in California next year (which is not very likely), could we not argue that it is an unconstitutional infringement upon the way that the states are allowed to elect people to the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate?

6. Richard,

   What is the new law on the subject in CA after 01/01/2010. Sincerely, Mark Seidenberg, Vice Chairman, American Intdependent Party

7. Here is a good response to all of those people who accuse you of “wasting your vote” if you vote for an independent and/or minor party candidate: If you vote Republican, you will have wasted your vote even if your candidate wins. From trying to block health care reform in the U.S. Senate to racking up billions of dollars of debt under the eight years of the Bush-Cheney Administration to attacking President Barack Obama because he wants to eventually pull our country out of Afghanistan and give it back to its own people, the GOP stands for nothing and is good for nothing.

8. A district attorney candidate in Texas filed for the March 2009 Republican primary (filing closes in early January), and then withdrew his filing and refiled in the Democratic primary.

   Here is his introduction from his web-site (courtesy of a Google cache):

   “Rafael De La Garza, a Republican candidate for Collin County District Attorney, possesses the qualifications and experience we need to meet the needs of a growing community and demands of a changing public safety environment. As a conservative Republican, De La Garza knows that government’s first responsibility is the protection of its citizens. Citizens should feel safe in their homes and neighborhoods.”

   And the updated version.

   “Rafael De La Garza, a Democratic candidate for Collin County District Attorney, possesses the qualifications and experience we need to meet the needs of a growing community and demands of a changing public safety environment. De La Garza knows that government’s first responsibility is the protection of its citizens. Citizens should feel safe in their homes and neighborhoods.”

9. #2 Lucy Killea had been elected as a Democratic senator from San Diego (she had originally registered as a Democrat to support FDR). In July 1991, fed up with the partisan shenanigans in Sacramento, she changed here registration to Decline To State. She then discovered she would not be able to run for re-election. It was only after the legislature changed the law, that she was able to run and win re-election as an independent. Previously, the one year requirement on party re-affiliation was based on the primary election, but was changed to permit a voter who became a DTS voter 12 months before the general election to run as an independent.

10. #2 I don’t think you are correct with regard to write-in candidates (unless a statement of write-in candidacy for a partisan primary is different than a declaration of candidacy for a partisan primary).

    Elections Code Section 8600(b) requires the same number of signatures by party-affiliated voters for a write-in candidate as are required by an on-ballot candidate; and Section 8602 requires that the nomination papers for write-in candidates be substantively the same as for on-ballot candidates.

    You may be confused with Section 8707 which purports “term-limited” congressional candidates to run as a write-in candidate. Such a scheme where long-serving Representatives and Senators could only run for re-election as a write-in candidate was ruled unconstitutional in US Term Limits, where the US Supreme Court ruled that it was actually imposing am extra-constitutional qualification on Representatives, rather than being a manner regulation as Arkansas had asserted.

11. #8-Frankly, with regard to positions such as DA or judge, that is as it should be. Mr De La Garza’s party affiliations and positions on partisan issues of our day, like health care reform or federal tax rates, are irrelevant for the job he is running for. If he were an Independent, Libertarian, Green, or what have you his obligations would be the same-impartial enforcement of laws that he didn’t make.

12. As to comment #9, Lucy Killea didn’t change her registration from Democratic to independent because she was “fed up with partisan shenanigans.” She switched because she knew she would have an easier time getting re-elected as an independent, since it was an overwhelmingly Republican district. She was aware of the election law when she switched. Also the new law is 13 months before the general election, not 12 months.

    Maybe Jim Riley and I will be perceived to be engaging in “partisan shenanigans” or “partisan bickering”. I would like to get to know him better but he won’t respond to e-mails from me; his only communication is by making comments.

13. #12 http://articles.latimes.com/1991-08-20/local/me-1332_1_democratic-party

    “Killea said she didn’t know about the law until she tried to re-register as an independent last week, before coming back to Sacramento. In her speech, she asked her colleagues to change the law in time for her reelection bid, but Roberti said it is likely that Killea is locked into being listed as a Democrat on the 1992 ballot.”

    “Sen. William A. Craven (R-Oceanside) said the comments by his San Diego colleague were “touching” and characterized them as a “rather dramatic move.” But he dismissed notions that they were politically motivated and geared toward winning reelection.”

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