William J. Kelleher, Ph.D. Political Scientist, author, speaker, CEO for The Internet Voting Research and Education Fund, a CA Nonprofit Foundation, wrote a article about CA Prop 14 (Top Two) on the website OpEdNews.com.
California's Proposition 14 provides a new way for the people of California to pursue the American Dream of Liberty through self-government. Prior to the enactment of Prop 14, only officially recognized "qualified" parties could conveniently run candidates in the primary election. "Unqualified" outsiders had prohibitive barriers, such as costly fees and high numbers of signatures on petitions to be placed on the ballot. Candidates in the qualified parties didn't have to suffer these restrictions.More than three million Californians were effectively barred from voting in the primary election simply because they declined to register to vote as a member of any of the half dozen qualified parties. They could have lied about identifying with one of the qualified parties at the time of registering to vote, so that they could cast a primary vote; but because of their personal integrity they were unjustly deprived of the opportunity to vote in the primary election. They could only vote in the general election for the "left overs."
The three stages of Prop 14:
Stage One Liberation
Prop 14 is liberating for the people of California because it opens the door for a multi-party state legislature, and paves the way for the end of one-party domination...
The Stage Two Campaign
No one has to be rich or famous to get started under Prop 14. Anyone who is adept at using the social media, and has personal energy, drive, organizing skills, and a network of supporters within the district has a fighting chance at winning in stage two...
Stage Three Understood
Because stage two may have many candidates, chances are that no one will win by a clear majority. But in a democracy, the leadership should have the backing of a majority to assure its legitimacy. That is why two candidates are presented for a final vote. Having write-ins at this stage would allow someone to by-pass the process that the top two had just gone through. How fair is that?...
Use the above link to read the entire article.
I have been writing about this type of open primary for awhile. I hope we get to discuss this in much more detail at the upcoming National Conference of Independents on Feb. 12, 2011 in New York City.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!
Michael H. Drucker
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3 comments:
Prop. 14 and its implementing legislation hurts voting rights: (1) it makes it more difficult for candidates to get on the primary ballot; (2) it says write-ins won't be counted in November for Congress or state office; (3) it makes it far more difficult for parties to remain ballot-qualified, so it even shrinks choices on the November presidential ballot; (4) it takes away the ability of an independent candidate to be described on the ballot with the word "independent"; (5) worst of all, in the high-turnout November elections, it leaves voters with only two choices on the ballot, which will invariably be only Democrats or Republicans.
Number (1) is a false statement. Anyone who wants to run his or her independent campaign in one of CA’s 120 legislative districts can just pay a filing fee, and submit a petition with only a few dozen signatures. In the past, party elites could influence who ran, and non-party folks had a lot of hurdles to overcome, but it was easy for candidates from “qualified” parties. Number (4) can be corrected with legislation. All the others are good, as my article shows, at http://www.opednews.com/a/126397
William J. Kelleher, Ph.D.
I love how people think that repeating this garbage will make it true.
Stage One - The history of Top Two in other states has shown that it helps incumbants... it has shown NO evidence of resulting in more parties being represented.
Stage Two - Actually Top Two makes it harder for anyone to compete against wealthy, politically connected or famous candidates. It cuts the calendar down, the only thing that was previously a level playing field for underdog candidates.
And any accomplished political organizer will laugh when they hear garbage like social networking is a pathway to success in politics. It helps, but doesn't even hold a candle to the power of the gold standards of politics... door knocking, phone calling, events and advertising. There is even statistical analysis that has been done on this.
Stage Three - This is obvious bullshit. All Top Two is is a run off election at the primary, which is the whole problem. You can have a run off after the election if you want to set a 50% rule. Some states already do this. This garbage that it is better at the primary... all it does it HELP the parties and screw over underdog candidates.
Repeating this crap doesn't make it true. The evidence is clear.
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