[EL] bills introduced in Cal. legislature to alter top-two

[Richard Winger]

Proposed Constitutional amendments have been introduced into both houses of the California legislature to further restrict voter choice in November.  ACA 9 and SCA 12, identical bills, would limit who can be nominated by write-in at the primary, for congress and partisan state office.

California's constitution now says the top two vote-getters appear on the November ballot, and there is no write-in space in November.  The proposals say that candidates who place 2nd in June can't advance to November, if they are write-in candidates and they don't poll a specified minimum number of votes in June.

If this proposal had been in effect in 2012, California voters would have had 8 congressional and legislative races with only one person on the November ballot.  With no write-in space on the November ballot, a one-candidate election leaves voters with nothing to do.  It is impossible for the voter to help defeat that one candidate, because he or she will be elected with just one vote, if it is impossible for voters to vote against the candidate.

In 2012, for example, in the 31st Assembly district, only one candidate, a Democrat, appeared on the June ballot.  But a Republican filed as a write-in (which takes 40 signatures on a petition) and polled 299 write-ins.  Since he came in 2nd, he was on the November ballot, where he got 36.0%.  If the proposal had been in effect, the November voters would have had a one-candidate race, because the bill requires approximately 1,600 write-ins in June for Assembly, and approximately 120,000 for statewide office, and approximately 3,200 for State Senate, and approximately 2,400 for U.S. House.  None of the June 2012 write-in candidates came remotely close to getting that many write-ins.

We can't expect people to participate in elections if they are given ballots that give them no role in certain races.

Richard Winger

415-922-9779

PO Box 470296, San Francisco Ca 94147
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