On May 7, the California Assembly Elections Committee passed ACA 9 and AB 141 by a vote of 5-1. This proposed state constitutional amendment, and statute, would provide that if a write-in candidate for Congress or partisan state office places second in June, he or she still can’t be on the November ballot unless the number of write-ins is quite high.

In the typical U.S. House district, 2,300 write-ins would be needed. In the typical State Senate district, 3,000 write-ins would be needed; in an ordinary Assembly district, 1,500 write-ins would be needed.

If this amendment becomes law, the only concrete difference will be an increase in the number of one-candidate elections in November. If this measure had been in existence in 2012, there would have been eight one-candidate elections in November. Because California no longer permits write-ins in November, one-candidate elections leave California voters with no choice whatsoever. Testimony against the bill was heard from the ACLU, Californians for Electoral Reform, the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, and the Peace & Freedom Party. The only testimony in favor of the bill was from Jill LaVine, president of the California Association of County Election Officials.

Even though the bill has a Republican sponsor, Assemblymember Jeff Gorell, it received no votes from Republicans on the Committee. The Committee has five Democrats, all of whom voted for the bill. Republican Assemblymember Tim Donnelly spoke against the bill and voted against it. The other Republican member of the Committee, Dan Logue, did not cast a vote on this bill.