Proponents of the California ballot question to impose a “top-two” election system have been quoted in many mainstream news media organizations recently. These spokespeople repeat over and over that California’s state government leadership problems are caused by politicians who are too ideological. The advocates of “top-two” say that their election system would result in a different kind of candidate being put in office.
Ironically, however, the proponents never remind people that each of the last two governors of California was initially elected in their type of system. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected for the first time in 2003, in a special election at which all voters received the same ballot, with all candidates listed on the ballot. And previous Governor Gray Davis was elected for the first time in 1998, when California was using the “blanket primary”, another system in which all voters receive identical primary ballots, ballots that list all candidates for the office from all political parties.
Proponents of “top-two” seem to have succeeded in their desire to have “top-two” labeled as an “open primary”. Definitions in this area are hopelessly confused. Most proponents of “top-two” say it is legitimate for them to label “top-two” as an “open primary”, because they say that “open primary” means any system in which independents can vote in the primaries. However, it is already the case that independents in California may vote in the major party primaries in 2010.