BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2351
Author: Gordon (D)
Amended: 8/21/14
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.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/21/14 add double-jointing language
with SB 1043 (Torres).
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
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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.
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.
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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
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
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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
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.
5.Contains double-jointing language with SB 1043 (Torres).
Background
In February 2009, the Legislature approved SCA 4 (Maldonado,
Chapter 2) 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
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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
status.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/22/14)
Secretary of State
California Alliance for Retired Americans
Californians for Electoral Reform
Coalition for Free and Open Elections
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,
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Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,
Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. Pérez, V.
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 8/22/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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