Free Republic

When the founders considered the form of government to replace the English monarchy, two examples of government led the lists: democracy and republicanism. Reasoning a representative republic led by informed citizens would be more stable than a direct democracy subject to volatile emotions of a public fired up over issues du jour, they opted for the republican form of government. California, in its state constitution, allows for changes to its constitution via the ballot process, allowing propositions to be placed before the public for approval in a general election. California flirts with direct democracy, and, as the founders feared, finds...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The state Supreme Court allowed California on Wednesday to go ahead with a voter-approved overhaul of primary elections, putting all candidates on the same ballot in the first round and matching the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, in the runoff. The justices unanimously denied a request to block the measure, Proposition 14, which takes effect in January.Prop. 14, which passed with a 54 percent majority in June, eliminates party primaries and instead requires all state and federal candidates, except those for president, to run in a single primary for each office. The top two finishers, who...

He has been, in many ways, a governor of firsts:• The first to take office as a result of a recall election.• The first to commute, on an almost daily basis and via private jet, between the Capitol and his Southern California mansion. • The first to have served in the Austrian army, the first to have won the Mr. Olympia body-building title seven times, and - as far as we know - the first California chief executive to have nude photos of himself widely available on the World Wide Web.But "first" does not necessarily mean "great," or even "good."And...

Illinois voters would no longer have to declare their party in a primary election under a surprise amendatory veto Gov. Quinn issued Tuesday. Under new rules pushed by Quinn, voters would be handed the ballots of Republicans, Democrats and whatever other parties have primary contests. Voters then would privately choose which ballot to fill out. No one but the voter would know which party's primary they voted in. Voters would not be able to vote in more than one party's primary. His veto could be rejected by legislators when they reconvene. Quinn said the bill will end the era of...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, fresh from his victory with the passage of Proposition 14, spent Thursday hopping from one Washington, D.C., media outlet to another touting his success and his final year’s agenda. The governor played coy with multiple media outlets about whether he would endorse GOP standard-bearer Meg Whitman to succeed him. He told the Washington Post that the person he will support "most likely will be Republican but not necessarily." In an interview with NPR, Schwarzenegger spoke about the importance of the new two-top primary, which, like the recall election that vaulted him into the governorship, has all candidates,...

Proposition 14, modeled on a similar law in Washington state, was approved by 8 percentage points. The measure will create a single, open primary in which the top two finishers, regardless of party, advance to the general election runoff, paving the way for Republican - vs. -Democrat, Democrat - vs. - Democrat or Republican -vs -Republican contests. The campaign was spearheaded by Schwarzenegger and his moderate new lieutenant governor, Abel Maldonado. Maldonado, a former state senator, secured the ballot measure as part of an agreement to vote for the stalemated Democratic budget last year.

In case anyone missed the tea leaves scattered around the country, California’s primary results offer more evidence of voters’ dislike for political parties. The Golden State on Tuesday passed Proposition 14, creating a so-called open primary in which any voter is allowed to cast their vote for any candidate in the primary, regardless of party affiliation. The top two vote-getters would face each other in the general election, even if they were from the same party. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a big backer of the change, arguing that it would push politics away from the polarized extremes and toward a...

California voters approve open primaries measure

Secretary of State Debra Bowen said today there will be an "army of lawyers" looking at the constitutionality of Proposition 14 if the measure is approved today. Under the "top two" primary system, candidates of all party affiliations would run on one primary ballot. Only the top two vote-getters would advance to a general run-off election. The change does not impact presidential contests. Proponents, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado, say the change would increase voter choice and turnout in primary contests. They also argue that more moderate politicians would be elected because candidates would have to...

One of the key questions in the debate over Proposition 14 is what sort of candidate might prevail under a so-called "open-primary" system. Proponents of the June ballot measure say switching to a top-two primary system, in which candidates of all political parties run in the primary and the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, would result in electing more moderates. While that could be the case, according to a report released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Center for Governmental Studies, it could also result in voters in many districts choosing between two members of the same party in...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger transferred $500,000 Friday from his ballot measure committee into the Yes on 14 campaign. The measure would create a system where all candidates of all party affiliations run in one primary and the top two vote-getters advance to a general election. It has long had strong backing from Schwarzenegger, who says it is one of his top priorities on the ballot this year.

The Top Two Primaries Act would require that candidates run in a single primary open to all registered voters, with the top two vote-getters meeting in a runoff. Last spring, two seasoned politicians squared off over a rare open congressional seat. Democrats Judy Chu, then a member of the state Board of Equalization, and state Sen. Gil Cedillo placed first and second, respectively, in a widely watched special primary election in the San Gabriel Valley-area district. Chu advanced to the July runoff with 32.6% of the vote, but not Cedillo, even though he finished ahead of 10 other candidates by...

Two of the three major California GOP gubernatorial candidates -- Tom Campbell and Meg Whitman -- oppose the proposal by leaders of the state Republican Party to bar independent voters from casting a ballot in the 2010 GOP primary, their campaigns have told the Chronicle today. With the controversial issue heating up -- and about to go before GOP delegates at next month's statewide party convention -- the Chronicle asked the current crop of GOP gubernatorial candidates to weigh in. Two of the candidates have indicated they oppose the idea -- and one won't take a stand. Excerpts from their...

Sorry for the vanity. What is the procedure to change a state Presidential primary from an open primary to a closed primary? The reason I ask is we all know the ACORN crowd will have nothing to do in 2012 on the Democratic side. I fear they will flood all open primary states and try to influence the Republican contests. I'm sure each state is different but it may be worth the effort to close them as soon as possible.

Via DrewM at Ace’s site. The last time I posted about this, I thought Specter could play Joe Lieberman to Pat Toomey’s Ned Lamont by losing the GOP primary and then winning the general election as an independent. Not so; turns out Pennsylvania law prohibits independent runs by candidates who compete in and lose a primary. So he’s either got to run as a Republican and beat Toomey or duck the showdown by going indie now. Or maybe there’s a third way. In recent days, Specter has quietly lobbied Republicans who control the state Senate to support a proposal that...

SAN FRANCISCO -- California Republican and Democratic Party leaders, always at war, finally agree on a common enemy: the open primary. A proposed constitutional amendment would go before voters in June 2010 instituting a "top-two" primary system, which would effectively eliminate party primary ballots, erase candidate party labels in primary elections and allow voters to choose the two candidates - of whatever party - who would compete in the general election. An open primary would dissolve the current political primary system, and has the potential to seriously erode party power and change the entire landscape of state politics.The measure...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday plans to discuss his goals for political reform that may include a push to change California's primary election laws. The governor and those close to him who helped spearhead the recent change in the state's redistricting laws are expected to voice suport for open primaries, which would allow voters to cast primary ballots for any candidate, regardless of partisan affiliation. A ballot initiative could be before voters by 2010, perhaps even earlier, to change the state's primary laws. Schwarzenegger has already signaled his support of an open primary. That issue - and others - are...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the state of Washington’s open primary election system, a setback for the Republican and Democratic political parties in the state. By a 7-2 vote, the court says the state may use a primary system that allows the top two vote-getters to advance to the general election, even if they are from the same party. Washington never held a primary under the new system because of legal challenges. Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas said that overturning Washington’s plan would have been an “extraordinary and precipitous nullification of the will of the...

Yesterday morning I spilled coffee all over my suit when I spied the following tidbit in the paper (Washington Post, 11/28/07, page B2): "Loyalty Oath Will Be Required." It seems that the Republican Party of Virginia, home to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, has prevailed on the State Board of Elections (SBE) to mandate that GOP primary voters must "sign an oath swearing loyalty to the eventual GOP ticket." All who apply for a GOP primary ballot must "vow in writing to vote for the Republican presidential nominee next fall." Given the state party's legitimate concern with an open primary...

Does Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger think that democracy is for girlie men, or does he have more pragmatic reasons for supporting Proposition 62, the so-called open primary initiative? If passed next Tuesday, it would eliminate party primaries, except at the presidential level, with California voters supporting a candidate of any party in a preliminary election, and the top two vote-getters appearing on the ballot in the general election. Both the state Democratic and Republican parties oppose the measure, but Schwarzenegger supports it, saying, "I didn't come to Sacramento to make political parties happy." No, he came to Sacramento to make his...