On February 11, the Board of the ACLU of Northern California resolved to oppose Proposition 14, the “top-two open primary” that is on the ballot in June 2010. The ACLU had also opposed a similar measure in California in 2004, Prop. 62, and Prop. 62 was far kinder to minor parties than 2010’s version.

Prop. 62 in 2004 cut the number of registrants needed for a party to attain, or keep, party status to one-third of 1% of the last gubernatorial vote. Also, Prop. 62 permitted write-ins in November, even for candidates who had run in the primary and not placed first or second.

By contrast, Prop. 14 in June 2010 leaves the registration requirement at 1%, and does not permit write-ins to be counted in November for Congress or state office. Because Prop. 14 abolishes the 2% vote test for a party to remain on, all parties would need to keep their registration above 1%.

On February 16, U.S. District Court Judge Irma Gonzalez enjoined a San Diego city ordinance that makes it illegal for political parties to contribute any money to candidates for city office. All California city elections are non-partisan. Thalheimer v City of San Diego, 09-cv-2862.

There were other issues in the case. The judge also enjoined a city ordinance that made it illegal for a candidate to spend his or her own money on the campaign more than 12 months before the election. And, she enjoined a city ordinance that made it illegal for individuals to donate more than $500 to a committee that is making independent expenditures for or against any candidates for city office. She declined to enjoin other ordinances: (1) one that makes it illegal for a candidate to receive contributions more than 12 months before the election; (2) one that makes it illegal for groups, other than political parties, to contribute directly to a candidate; (3) the $500 contribution limit from individuals to candidates for city office. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.

Frederic von Anholt says he will file paperwork on February 18 with the California Secretary of State, in preparation for for his independent candidacy for Governor. The petitioning period does not begin until April and runs through August. He will need 173,041 valid signatures, due August 6. See this story.

As noted earlier, if he qualifies, he will be California’s first independent candidate for Governor to have his name printed on a government-printed ballot. Although two gubernatorial candidates have used the California independent procedures in the past, neither was a true independent. Ed Clark was the Libertarian nominee in 1978, and he used the independent procedure because the Libertarian Party wasn’t on the ballot. Theodore Bell used the independent procedure in 1918, but he was the Democratic Party’s nominee. The 1918 Democratic Party primary had left the party with no nominee, so the party backed Bell and used the independent procedure. The problem the Democrats had in 1918 was that the man who won the Democratic nomination was a registered Republican, but he had also run in the Republican primary and had lost that primary. California law at the time permitted fusion, but someone who lost his own primary but won the primary of another party was excluded from the general election ballot.