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A man marks his ballot in Sacramento during California’s primary election June 3.
Associated Press

Among the eight states holding primary elections Tuesday is California, where the open “top two” primary election is worth watching.

California is an incubator of ideas and trends. In 2012, it used the top-two system in congressional races, and now it has expanded to all statewide races. Rhodes Cook has described its top-two system as an effort to get more centrist candidates on the ballot. But this system has several other important goals.

The most significant is allowing all voters–Democrats, Republicans and independents–to participate in primaries. As in most other states, the number of voters identifying as independents in California, the nation’s most populous state, is growing compared with those registering with the two major parties. Independents represent about 28% of California’s electorate; that’s lower than the national average of 42% that Gallup reported in January.

The California system awards the top two vote-getters in each race a place on the November ballot even if they are from the same party. In theory, this gives minor candidates and challengers a chance to compete. But the success of this idea is far from certain. In the past, independent and third-party candidates could qualify for California’s general-election ballot by collecting signatures, as is allowed in most other states.

In Louisiana and Washington state, which have used their own top-two systems for years, there is strong evidence that the system disadvantages challengers and discourages diversity. An assessment by Ballot Access News determined that in more than 80 elections using the top-two system in those states, no independent or third-party candidate has advanced to the general-election ballot.

In April a group representing the Libertarian and Green parties filed a legal appeal in California involving ballot access for minor parties under the top-two system.

A just-released study by the Public Policy Institute of California suggests a modification of the state’s top-two system to allow independent petition-drive and write-in options on the general election ballot.

Among the significant, well-funded independent candidates in California’s primary are Dan Schnur, who is running for secretary of state, and Marianne Williamson, one of 16 candidates in the 33rd Congressional District.

How they fare under top two might reveal a lot about the viability of this system.




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