David Reynolds has this op-ed in the Connecticut Mirror, advocating that Connecticut ease its ballot access barriers, especially those relating to primary ballot access.

Last week, Bob Smith changed his registration from Republican to independent. He is running for U.S. House in California’s 24th U.S. House district. In the primary, he was one of three candidates on the primary ballot, and he placed second. Also on the ballot were two Democrats. Because he placed second, he is on the ballot in November.

Despite his membership switch, he will still be listed on the November ballot as a Republican. The California top-two law does not permit candidates to have a different label on the ballot in November than they had in the primary, even though the ballot will now be inaccurate. Here is an interview with Smith. He says openly that independent candidates who run as independents in the California top-two primary have a very difficult time getting through the primary. In response to the interviewer’s question, he says that it is a fair point that he used the Republican Party to pass through the primary. But he says the public doesn’t seem to resent it.

There seems to be no rational reason why the California law on labels doesn’t permit up-to-date information on the November ballot, so that if a candidate switches before the November ballot is printed, it should not give the voters false information.