ACA 13

Bill Subjects

Abstract

The California Constitution requires the Legislature to provide for partisan elections for presidential candidates, including an open presidential primary where the candidates on the ballot are those found by the Secretary of State to be recognized candidates throughout the nation or throughout California for the office of President of the United States, and those whose names are placed on the ballot by petition, but excluding any candidate who has withdrawn by filing an affidavit of noncandidacy. Existing statutory law provides for a presidential primary election at which delegations to the national conventions of political parties are chosen. Existing law requires a voter who is registered as preferring a political party participating in a presidential primary election to be furnished a ballot for the political party that he or she prefers, on which the presidential candidates for that political party are listed. Existing law prohibits a voter who is not registered as disclosing a preference for any one of the political parties participating in the election from voting the ballot of a political party unless the political party, by party rule duly noticed to the Secretary of State, authorizes a person who has declined to disclose a party preference to vote its ballot. Existing law does not provide for a candidate who is not seeking the nomination of a political party to participate in the presidential primary election. However, existing law permits such a presidential candidate to be nominated, and have his or her name printed on the general election ballot, by filing independent nomination papers signed by a specified percentage of voters. Existing law also provides for write-in candidates at the presidential general election. This measure would, instead, require the Legislature to provide for a presidential primary election at which every ballot contains the names of all candidates for the office of President of the United States recognized by the Secretary of State in accordance with applicable statutes, including candidates who are not seeking the nomination of a political party for that office. This measure would authorize a voter to vote for any candidate at the presidential primary election without regard to the political party preference, or lack of political party preference, of the voter. This measure would require the Legislature to enact statutes requiring the Secretary of State to report to each political party the number of votes cast at the presidential primary election for each candidate seeking the nomination of that party in a manner that segregates the votes by the political party preference, or lack of political party preference, of the voters. This measure would authorize a political party to count the votes from the presidential primary election according to the rules of the party and would authorize the party to place a candidate of its choice on the general election ballot. This measure would require the Legislature to provide for a presidential general election at which every ballot contains the names of the candidates selected by each political party that participated in the preceding presidential primary election and the name of the candidate who received the highest number of voters at the preceding presidential primary election among candidates not seeking the nomination of a political party.