California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 145

Introduced by Assembly Member Olsen

(Principal coauthor: Senator Cannella)

February 29, 2016

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 145—Relative to presidential primary elections.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 145, as introduced, Olsen. Presidential primary elections: advisory ballots.

Existing provisions of the California Constitution require the Legislature to provide for primary elections for partisan offices, including an open presidential primary election whereby 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of the United States, and those whose names are placed on the ballot by petition, but excluding any candidate who has withdrawn by filing an affidavit of noncandidacy.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 provisions proscribe the procedures for specified political parties to select delegates to the party’s national convention, at which the party chooses its candidate for the office of President of the United States.

For a partisan primary election, existing law requires one form of ballot to be provided for each qualified political party and one form of nonpartisan ballot to be provided, as specified. Existing law requires a voter who is not registered as disclosing a preference for any one of the political parties participating in the election to be furnished with a nonpartisan ballot, unless he or she requests a ballot of a political party and that party authorizes a person who has declined to disclose a party preference to vote the ballot of the party, as specified.

This measure would urge the Secretary of State to exercise his or her authority to establish a new advisory voting process that would allow specified voters to cast an advisory ballot in the presidential primary election, as specified. This measure would encourage each political party that participates in the presidential primary election to consider the results of the advisory ballots in selecting the party’s nominee for the office of President of the United States.

Fiscal committee: yes.

WHEREAS, California has made it a responsibility of the state
to promote the exercise of the right to vote by, among other things,
encouraging voter registration; and

WHEREAS, The California Secretary of State has the authority
to adopt regulations to assure the uniform application and
administration of state election law; and

WHEREAS, Subdivision (a) of Section 5 of Article II of the
California Constitution requires a voter-nominated primary election
to be conducted to select the candidates for congressional and state
elective offices in California, at which all voters, regardless of
their political party preference, may vote for any candidate; and

WHEREAS, Voters in California have become accustomed to
voter-nominated primary elections, and therefore, voters are likely
to be confused if they cannot vote for the candidate of their choice,
without regard to political party preference; and

WHEREAS, In 2012, many voters throughout the state were
confused with respect to their right to vote in the presidential
primary election due to its semi-closed partisan nature; and

WHEREAS, Pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 5 of Article
II of the California Constitution, the Legislature is required to
provide for an open presidential primary election, as specified;
and

WHEREAS, The Legislature has provided for a semi-closed
primary election system, as reflected in Section 13102 of the
Elections Code, under which a voter who is not registered as
disclosing a preference with any one of the political parties
participating in the election may vote a ballot of a political party
only if the party, by party rule duly noticed to the Secretary of
State, permits a person to do so; and

WHEREAS, An open primary election is generally one in which
a voter may participate, unconditioned by his or her party
preference or lack thereof, and not subject to conditions governed
outside of the exclusive authority and control of the state; and

WHEREAS, Under the First Amendment to the United States
Constitution, as recognized by the United States Supreme Court
in California Democratic Party v. Jones (2000) 530 U.S. 567, a
state may not require a political party to allow a non-party member
to participate in the party’s nomination proceedings without the
party’s consent; and

WHEREAS, Pursuant to Section 3 of Article XVI of the
California Constitution, no money shall ever be appropriated or
drawn from the State Treasury for the purpose or benefit of any
corporation or institution not under the exclusive management and
control of the State of California; and

WHEREAS, A presidential primary election is publicly funded
in accordance with Section 13001 of the Elections Code; and

WHEREAS, Section 2 of Article II of the California Constitution
specifies that citizenship, age, and residency are the requirements
for a person to vote; and

WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has recognized
that primary elections are an integral stage of the election process;
and

WHEREAS, A partisan presidential primary election may be
conducted so as to protect the rights of political parties, while at
the same time protecting the rights of all voters to participate; and,
therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature urges the Secretary of
State to exercise his or her authority to establish a new advisory
voting process that would allow certain voters to cast an advisory
ballot in the presidential primary election; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature urges the Secretary of State to
prepare an advisory ballot for the presidential primary election
that would allow a voter who did not request or vote a ballot of a
political party in that election to submit an advisory vote for a
candidate for the office of President of the United States; and be
it further

Resolved, That the Legislature urges the Secretary of State to
list on the advisory ballot each qualified candidate for the office
of President of the United States, regardless of the candidate’s
political party preference; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature urges the Secretary of State to
provide for the distribution of the advisory ballot to all voters who
did not request or vote a ballot of a political party in that election;
and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature urges the Secretary of State to
provide for the canvassing of the advisory ballots in the same
manner, and at the same time and place, as the results of the
presidential primary elections ballots for the political parties are
canvassed; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature encourages each political party
that participates in the presidential primary election to, but does
not requires the party to, consider the results of the advisory ballots
in selecting the party’s nominee for the office of President of the
United States; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.