The price of California’s budget: Part 3

Also see parts 1 and 2.

(This column consists of excerpts from the March 2009 Ballot Access News, a newsletter that has a particular focus on efforts by third-party and independent candidates to get on the ballot, and the legal challenges they face even if they do. It is edited by Richard Winger and is largely a collection of news, statistics, charts, and summaries of legal cases. The article from which these excerpts are taken-- “TOP-TWO” TO BE ON CALIFORNIA JUNE 2010 BALLOT--was written by him.)

California voters defeated “top-two” in November 2004 by a margin of 54.0%-46.0%, even though most of the state’s big newspapers endorsed it. It was also defeated in Oregon in November 2008 by 34.1%-65.9%. However, Washington voters voted for it in November 2004 by 59.8%-40.2%. It was used for the first time in any state in Washington in 2008 (Louisiana has used a somewhat similar system for state office since 1975, but in Louisiana, when someone gets 50% in the first round, that person is elected).

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In California, some prominent supporters of “top-two” have an almost religious conviction that “top-two” produces moderate legislators, whereas normal party primaries produce “extremists”. These people are especially incensed that many California Republican legislators are diehard conservatives, and that many Democratic legislators follow the wishes of organized labor.

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Washington state used “top-two” for the first time in 2008. Neither the August primary nor the November election met the predictions of California fans of the system.

Primary turnout: The primary in 2008 had a turnout of 42.58%. That was lower than the turnout in the 2004 primary, which used a classic open primary. 2004 turnout was 45.14%. Yet all the supporters of “top-two” always say their type of primary is good for primary turnout.

“Shaking Up the System”: ... Another variable [used in an accompanying chart] is whether “top-two” was good or bad for incumbents. In the Washington 2008 primary, out of 123 races, only one state legislator, Jim Dunn, was defeated for re-election. And he had particular problems which would probably have caused his defeat, no matter what type of primary had been used.

The 2008 Washington results for U.S. House were also stultifying. All eight incumbents were re-elected. Except for the 8th district, all the incumbents polled over 62% of the vote in November. And in the August primary, all the incumbents polled at least four times as many votes as anyone else in the same party.

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Minor party and Independent Candidate Exclusion: The one significant difference in Washington between 2008 and prior years is the effect “top-two” had on minor party and independent candidates. Ever since Washington started using government-printed ballots in 1890, there had always been at least one minor party or independent candidate on the November ballot for Congress, or statewide state office, or both. In 2008, for the first time, there were no such candidates for either Congress or any state statewide race.

ENDS

rosalea.barker@gmail.com

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