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Ballot Barrier View the document 2 (pdf) Executive Summary In November 2004, California will vote on Proposition 62: "The Voter-Choice Open Primary Act." Currently, voters may vote for the nominees of only one political party. Proposition 62 would replace this "modified-closed" system of party primaries with one in which all candidates for state or federal offices (except for presidential electors) run in a single primary election and only the top-two vote recipients are allowed to run in the general election. This study of Proposition 62 questions how well it is likely to achieve its stated aims. After a careful analysis of relevant court opinions, California's blanket primary and Louisiana's "top-two" primary, it concludes that Proposition 62 would be less effective at increasing voter participation, choice, privacy, fairness, or the moderation of candidates, than other electoral reforms, while risking significant reductions in voter choice and participation in general elections. Election systems like Proposition 62 have several drawbacks: They do not halt declining turnout: California's old "blanket primary" may have raised primary turnout slightly, but failed to halt the decline in general election turnout. They rely on lower-turnout primary elections: A third fewer Californians voted in the last three primary elections than voted in the subsequent general elections. They limit minor parties: Minor parties have rarely made it to the general election for congress in Louisiana since it adopted the top-two primary in 1975. They favor extremists as often as moderates: Louisiana's primary frequently resulted in more extreme candidates, such as former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke, winning one -- and sometimes both -- spots in the runoff. They weaken the accountability of political parties: Top-two primaries force political parties to nominate candidates using methods with less public accountability than public elections. They erect informational barriers for voters: Like nonpartisan elections, top-two primaries require voters to learn about a large number of candidates with less aid from partisan labels, often lowering turnout. Proposition 62 seems a poor method for fixing California's electoral system. Instead, reforms like Election Day Registration and Instant Runoff Voting should be considered as alternatives for increasing turnout and choice without Proposition 62's drawbacks. |
