BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                       CONSENT


          Bill No:  AB 2351
          Author:   Gordon (D)
          Amended:  As introduced
          Vote:     21


           SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMM.  :  4-0, 6/17/14
          AYES:  Padilla, Hancock, Jackson, Pavley
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Anderson

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 5/15/14 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Political party qualification

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill revises conditions under which a political  
          party is considered qualified to participate in a primary or  
          presidential general election.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          1.Provides that a political party is qualified to participate in  
            a primary election under any of the following conditions:

             A.   If, at the last preceding gubernatorial election, there  
               was polled for any one of its candidates for any office  
               voted on through the state, at least 2% of the entire vote  
               of the state.
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             B.   If, on or before the 135th day before any primary  
               election, it appears to the Secretary of State (SOS), as a  
               result of examining and totaling the statement of voters  
               and their political affiliations transmitted to the SOS by  
               county elections officials, that voters equal in number to  
               at least 1% of the entire vote of the state at the last  
               preceding gubernatorial election have declared their  
               intention to affiliate with that party.

             C.   If, on or before the 135th day before any primary  
               election, there is filed with the SOS a petition signed by  
               voters equal in number to 10% of the entire vote of the  
               state at the last preceding gubernatorial election,  
               declaring that they represent a proposed party, the name of  
               which shall be stated in the petition, which proposed party  
               those voters desire to have participate in that primary  
               election.

          1.Provides that a political party is qualified to participate in  
            a presidential general election under any of the following  
            conditions:

             A.   The party is qualified to participate and participated  
               in the presidential primary election preceding the  
               presidential general election pursuant to existing law.

             B.   If, at the last preceding gubernatorial election, there  
               was polled for any one of its candidates for any office  
               voted on through the state, at least 2% of the entire vote  
               of the state.

             C.   If, on or before the 135th day before any primary  
               election, it appears to the SOS, as a result of examining  
               and totaling the statement of voters and their political  
               affiliations transmitted to the SOS by county elections  
               officials, that voters equal in number to at least 1% of  
               the entire vote of the state at the last preceding  
               gubernatorial election have declared their intention to  
               affiliate with that party.

             D.   If, on or before the 135th day before any primary  
               election, there is filed with the SOS a petition signed by  
               voters equal in number to 10% of the entire vote of the  

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               state at the last preceding gubernatorial election,  
               declaring that they represent a proposed party, the name of  
               which shall be stated in the petition, which proposed party  
               those voters desire to have participate in that primary  
               election.

          1.Requires each political party to have its qualifications  
            reviewed by the SOS upon the occurrence of the gubernatorial  
            election.  A party that does not meet the standards for  
            qualification, as described above, shall be prohibited from  
            participating in any primary or presidential general election.  
             Requires a party that loses qualification, but seeks to  
            regain that qualification, to file a notice with the SOS  
            indicating that it intends to regain qualification.

          This bill:

          1.Provides that a political party is qualified to participate in  
            a primary or presidential general election if, at the last  
            preceding gubernatorial primary election, the sum of the votes  
            cast for all of the candidates for an office voted on  
            throughout the state who disclosed a preference for that party  
            on the ballot was at least 2% of the entire vote of the state,  
            instead of the last preceding gubernatorial general election  
            in which there was polled for any one of its candidates for  
            any office voted on through the state, at least 2% of the  
            entire vote of the state.

          2.Permits a party to inform the SOS that it declines to have the  
            votes cast for any candidate who has disclosed that party as  
            his/her party preference on the ballot counted toward the 2%  
            qualification threshold.  Requires a party, if a party wishes  
            to have votes for any candidate not counted in support of its  
            qualification, to notify the SOS in writing of that  
            candidate's name by the 7th day prior to the gubernatorial  
            primary election.

          3.Provides that a political party is qualified to participate in  
            a primary election if, on or before the 135th day before a  
            primary election, it appears to the SOS, as a result of  
            examining and totaling the statement of voters and their  
            declared political preferences transmitted to the SOS by  
            county elections officials, that voters equal in number to at  
            least 0.33% of the total number of voters registered on the  

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            154th day before the primary election have declared their  
            preference for that party, instead of at least 1% of the  
            entire vote of the state at the last preceding gubernatorial  
            election have declared their intention to affiliate with that  
            party.

          4.Provides that a political party is qualified to participate in  
            a presidential general election if, on or before the 102nd day  
            before a presidential general election, it appears to the SOS,  
            as a result of examining and totaling the statement of voters  
            and their declared political preferences transmitted to the  
            SOS by county elections officials, that voters equal in number  
            to at least 0.33% of the total number of voters registered on  
            the 123rd day before the presidential general election have  
            declared their preference for that party, instead of at least  
            1% of the entire vote of the state at the last preceding  
            gubernatorial election have declared their intention to  
            affiliate with that party.

           Background
           
          In February 2009, the Legislature approved SCA 4 (Maldonado,  
          Chapter 2, Statutes of 2009) which was enacted by the voters as  
          Proposition 14 on the June 2010 Statewide Primary Election  
          Ballot.  Proposition 14 implemented a Top Two primary election  
          system in California for most elective state and federal  
          offices.  At primary elections, voters are able to vote for any  
          candidate, regardless of party, and the two candidates who  
          receive the most votes, regardless of party, advance to the  
          general election.

          The implementation of the Top Two primary system has had a  
          significant impact on third parties.  Only the top two  
          candidates for most elective state and federal offices advance  
          to the general election.  Under this new process, it is  
          challenging for a third party candidate for statewide office to  
          advance to the general election ballot.  Consequently, it has  
          become impractical for third parties to maintain their status as  
          qualified political parties based on the number of votes cast  
          for their candidates for statewide office at the general  
          election since their candidates may not appear on the general  
          election ballot.  In addition, as that method to maintain party  
          qualification status goes away, parties will likely have to meet  
          the registration test in order to maintain their qualification  

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          status.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   Local:  
           No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  6/18/14)

          Secretary of State
          California Alliance for Retired Americans
          Californians for Electoral Reform
          Coalition for Free and Open Elections
          Green Party of California
          Libertarian Party of California
          Peace & Freedom Party of California

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    California Alliance for Retired  
          Americans states that this bill "moves the vote test for parties  
          to maintain their ballot status from the general election to the  
          primary and takes the sum of all of the party's candidates for a  
          statewide office to meet this test.  This move was necessary  
          because it is now highly unlikely that smaller alternative party  
          candidates will qualify for future general elections as a result  
          of the new Top Two elections laws.  In addition, if passed, this  
          bill will reduce the registration test to .33% of the total  
          registration.  This is over half of the current registration  
          test requirements.  However, as the total number of  
          registrations increase, the number of registrations needed by  
          the parties to maintain ballot status will increase as well.   
          Ballot access for all viable parties is fundamental to a  
          multi-party electoral system.  Historically, alternative parties  
          have promoted many reforms, such as social security, that are  
          now part of our social fabric."


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 5/15/14
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian  
            Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,  
            Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,  
            Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,  
            Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández,  
            Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,  
            Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,  
            Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. Pérez, V.  

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            Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Rodriguez, Salas,  
            Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski,  
            Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Mansoor, Ridley-Thomas, Vacancy


          RM:e  6/19/14   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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