Mike Feinstein has this op-ed in the Riverside, California newspaper, the Press Enterprise. The ad mentions that the “Common Sense” Party is trying to qualify for the ballot, and that the party’s leaders, former Republican Congressman Tom Campbell and former independent State Senator Quentin Kopp, believe that it can be a voice for centrists. The op-ed points out, though, that in the top-two primary, having Common Sense Party candidates for Congress and partisan state office on the primary ballot will probably make it even more likely that two Democrats will emerge from the primary, and then that race will have only two Democrats on the November ballot.

Campbell and Kopp have this op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle, boosting the Common Sense Party. They seem to feel the top-two system will help the Common Sense Party, if it gets on the ballot. They ignore the fact that in the entire history of top-two in California, there is not one instance of a minor party candidate placing first or second, if both a Democrat and a Republican had also filed for that office.

On January 9, U.S. District Court Judge Charles B. Kornmann, a Clinton appointee, struck down a South Dakota 2019 law that requires initiative circulators to register with the Secretary of State. The register must include the circulator’s address, all phone numbers, and all email addresses. The circulator must also reveal where he or she is registered to vote, and whether the circulator is a registered sex offender.

All of this material would be publicly available. The law also required circulators to wear a badge with their circulator ID number.

Here is the 15-page decision in SD Voice v Noem, 1:19cv-1017.

The first part of the opinion explains that the law is worded not only to apply to circulators, but to any person who urges any other person to sign an initiative petition. That probably is not what the legislature intended, but the law says it applies to “anyone who solicits petition signatures”. The opinion says that could even include a newpaper editorial writer.

Law Professor Derek Muller has this op-ed in the Los Angeles Times. He points out that the combination of the California top-two system, plus the March primary for Congress, results in a system in which no one can run for Congress in November 2020 who has not filed a declaration of candidacy by December 11, 2019. So, even though unexpected events may occur after December 2019 and before November 2020, no new candidates may enter. This system is virtually unique in the nation. Other states have March congressional primaries, but later filing deadlines for independent candidates, but in California, even independents had to file in December 2019.