August 20 was the practical deadline in the California legislature for an old bill (that had already made headway in the legislature) to be amended and given entirely new content. The only way to introduce an entirely new idea this late in the legislative session is for a legislator to take an old bill that has already passed one house, and amend it.
In early August, the California Secretary of State had asked the legislature to make some technical changes to SB 6, the 2009 law that implements the “top-two” system that takes effect in January 2011. However, no legislator acted on the Secretary of State’s request. The Secretary of State had identified several problems with SB 6, from an election administration viewpoint.
How about the CA top 2 lawsuit stuff — to change the IDIOT SB 6 law ???
Were these the changes that Gautam Dutta is whining about?
#2, I object to the word “whining”. Leaving that aside, Bowen’s proposal did address the write-in issue. She proposed amending EC Section 15340 to make it clear that it does not apply to elections affected by Prop 14 (by adding “with the exception of a voter-nominated office at a general election”). A memo accompanying the draft language says that she would also be fine with counting write-ins.
This proposal was not even introduced, much less passed. So the question raised by the lawsuit is still on the table. In the absence of legislation, the court has to decide it.