The Houston Chronicle has this interesting article about House Bill 2504, which has passed the House and which both helps and harms minor parties.
It helps by lowering the vote test from 5% at the last election, to 2% at any of the last five elections. It hurts by imposing filing fees on the candidates nominated by minor party conventions. The story tends to present the bill as more favorable than unfavorable to minor parties.
The bill has not passed the State Senate yet, and time is running out for this year’s legislative session.
The advantage of Top 2 is it treats all parties equally.
This disadvantage of Top Two is that it favors the major party candidates who are supported by their party machines, and it shuts minor party and independent candidates off of general election ballots.
NOOOO DARK AGE caucuses, primaries and conventions.
PR and AppV
Every election is NEW.
INDIVIDUAL CANDIDATES ARE ELECTED.
PARTIES = FACTIONS/FRACTIONS OF ALL ELECTORS/VOTERS.
— regardless of SCOTUS ELECTION LAW morons since Williams v Rhodes in 1968.
@Andy,
Call it the General Election, First Round.
Problem solved.
An election that is not the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November in an even-numbered year is not a general election.
How many of the EXTREMISTS IN THE TOP 2 PRIMARY IN CA HAVE BEEN ELECTED ???
IT SHOWS IN THE BILLS /LAWS IN CA.
—
PR AND APPV
@CP,
There is nothing in the Texas Constitution that states such nonsense.Jim Riley Jim Riley
Chris Powell- how does that work regarding gubernatorial races in VA, MS and other states that have general elections in odd numbered years?
How about ONE [general] *election* DAY in each year ???
Fed Even
States Odd
Locals Even
— to have some sort of REAL competition.
The day of federal elections is set by federal law. States may choose to hold elections for state offices on a different day but the only exception for regular elections of which I am aware are, as Casual Observer mentions, those states that do so in odd-numbered years. Even so, those states stick to the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November in the designated odd-numbered years. The point is that calling an election that occurs in some other time besides the first Tuesday after Nov. 1st the general election flies in the face of common practice since prior to the Civil War and it is ridiculous to propose such a change to support a terrible idea like Top Two.
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/
TX Const link
Election stuff scattered around [as in many State Consts].
Many buried in Art. 16.
Some chaos due to crisis in Texas Admission to Union in 1845-1846 [ie TX was an *independent* *foreign* Nation-State] >>> Mex-Am WAR.
ALL election stuff should be in ONE Article in each Const. —
Electors – dates – offices – terms – vacancies.
Richard: The bill has a public hearing in the Senate State Affairs Comm. Thursday.
@CP,
A general election is when most offices are contested. In California, more offices are contested in the so-called primary. In Louisiana the Open Primary is on a Saturday in October in odd years (state executive and legislative offices are for four year terms, so only elections in YYYY mod 4 equal to three are properly generasl elections.
NO CAUCUSES-PRIMARIES-CONVENTIONS.
BALLOT ACCESS ONLY VIA EQUAL NOMINATING PETITIONS/FILING FEES.
ONE [GENERAL] ELECTION DAY = LESS TORTURE [ATTACK ADS] ON TV FOLKS.