The discussion of Proposition 14 at the Club’s April 10 meeting seemed to be a contest between lofty aspirational goals for the democracy, and nuts and bolts questions about whether it could work. Voters will face Prop. 14 on the June ballot when they are asked to decide whether to open primaries so all voters can vote for all candidates. If they agree, the top two candidates would  compete in the general election without consideration of their political party.

The open primary has been proposed as one of a number of ways of changing the composition and attitude of the California legislature to end its inability to make crucial budget decisions. Voters turned down a similar proposal in 2004, 54 to 46 percent.

Story continues after the jump. Video of the presentations is now available on the Club’s YouTube Channel.

Steve Peace

Speaking in favor of the measure was former State Senator Steve Peace, who is chairman of the board of the California Independent Voter Project. He argued that you should not have to “join a political party to have access to the ballot.” He noted that the fastest growing segment of voters are designated “decline-to-state” because they do not specify a party. “Frankly, they’re discriminated against,” he said, because they cannot participate in primary ballots unless invited.

Peace went on to explain that as a candidate, the discrimination is even more potent. “They’re not allowed to run in the primary at all,” giving political party candidates a six-month head start in campaigning. Further, signature requirements to run “make it essentially impossible” for them to seek election independent of a political party.

He noted that for 80 percent of California voters, “their votes are irrelevant.” That’s because, Peace explained, they are in a political minority in their district. The majority candidate wins no matter how they vote, or whether they vote. “The open primary changes that,” he said.

“What open primary does is it means that every citizen, irrespective of their choice to join a party, plays by the same rules. They all get to participate in the June primary and the top two go to a runoff in November,” he summarized. “Decisions in a democracy ought to be made by the largest number of voters,” he said.

Richard Winger

Richard Winger, a Libertarian, publisher of Ballot Access News, and an expert on election law and minor parties, took a more pragmatic approach. He maintained that the experience of two states – Louisiana and Washington – demonstrate that the open primary simply does not work. He noted that in Louisiana, more than 30 years experience has shown that only once was a major party incumbent turned out of office using the open primary system.

Winger offered that if the goal is to end budget gridlock, then the solution is to end the requirement that two-thirds of legislators vote for any budget bill. California is one of only three states with such a requirement and the other two (Rhode Island and Arkansas) escape trouble with it because Democrats hold more than two-thirds of the seats.

Winger disagreed with Prop. 14 supporters’ claims that the measure would help smaller parties. He predicted that, if passed, the Libertarian and Peace and Freedom parties would drop off the ballot. He reported that an implementation bill, which goes into effect only if Prop. 14 is approved by voters, “says write-ins can never be counted in November elections.”

Finally, Winger noted that the ACLU of Northern and Southern California oppose Prop. 14 because “the general election season is when there is the greatest interest in political ideas.” If only the two major candidates survive to the general election, he said, minority party ideas “will be muted.”

EDC members will be asked to consider making recommendations on this and other propositions at the Club’s May 8 meeting. For more information on the propositions, visit the EDC 2010 June Ballot Propositions background page.

More information on Proposition 14:

California Public Policy Institute Feb. 2010 publication on Open Primaries

Would the Open Primary proposal withstand a court challenge? (From Findlaw.com, February 2009)

Open Primaries in California: The Future of Proposition 14
The Rose Report (Rose Institute at  Claremont McKenna College), March 11, 2010

OPINION: Open primary is going back to the future
Contra Costa Times, March 21, 2010

OPINION: To Reduce Partisanship, Get Rid of Partisans (about open primary proposals across the nation)
The New York Times, March 22, 2010

Electoral reforms won’t fix California gridlock
San Francisco Chronicle, March 14, 2010

Ballot measure would provide open primaries
San Francisco Chronicle, March 11, 2010