The San Diego Union-Tribune has this fairly lengthy article about the difficulties independent candidates face in California. The article does not mention that outside California, 25 independent and minor party candidates were elected to state legislatures earlier this month. The article also does not mention the problem that independent candidates in California face, relative to ballot labels. Under current California law, independent candidates for Congress and partisan state office may not have “independent” printed on the ballot next to their names. Instead they are stuck with the unappealing label “no party preference.”
Between 1990 and 2010 (11 elections) there were a total of 2 independent candidates on the ballot for Assembly in a total of 880 races. This year alone there were 11.
There is nothing in the provisions of Top 2 Open Primary in the constitution that require the use of “No Party Preference”, rather than something like “Independent”, “Non-Partisan”, or ” “. You should work to improve the Top 2 Open Primary rather than trying to destroy it.
“Top two” is a cancer that will create a one-party state, end free elections and destroy liberty in America.
The only improvement possible is its total irradication.
#1, you omitted the special elections. More important, there is no intrinsic reason why you should compare top-two with the old California independent candidate procedures. I am working and have worked for many decades to lower the independent candidate petition requirements. If we eliminate top-two I hope we will have kinder petition requirements for independent candidates, or maybe even abolish them, as Florida has done.
California has more problems than Top 2. Gov. Brown, and the legislature, just increased the top income tax rate to be the highest of all 50 states. CA jumped over HI. Last year, Adobe, maker of InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat, moved to Utah. How is this relevant, Richard? Utah has a 5% flat tax, which was started by Jon Huntsman when he was governor. He dropped out of the Republican primary after he came in third in NH.
P.R. and nonpartisan App.V.
NO EVIL DANGEROUS caucuses, primaries and conventions which produce extremist robot party hacks are needed any more.
#3 You’re not going to seriously defend California’s old system for special elections are you?
@6 You’re not seriously defending “top two” are you … oh, yeah, you actually advocate this evil scheme … Do you advocate cancer over a headache too?
Cancer is like a headache compared to the unimaginable evil that is top two.