The ACSA Board of Directors has voted to approve the upcoming open primary measure – Proposition 14 – on the June ballot.

"ACSA supports the idea of an open primary," said ACSA Executive Director Bob Wells. "For far too many years we have seen legislative gridlock, especially when it comes to passing the budget. The Legislature has become highly partisan, so getting things accomplished in the Capitol has become increasingly challenging. In these tough times we need more legislators who will work together to reach acceptable compromises and move the state forward."

The initiative calls for a single primary election, with the top two voters going to a run-off, regardless of party affiliation. This is not the first attempt at such a system. California held open primaries in 1998 and 2000 after voters approved Prop. 198 in 1996.

However, political parties strenuously objected to an open primary on the grounds that it diluted their power. They challenged it in court, and managed to get it stricken down by the U.S. Supreme Court. The decision held that Prop. 198 violated a party’s right to choose its own candidate. Another open primary initiative was placed on the ballot on 2004, but lost when it garnered only 46 percent of the vote.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a proponent of Prop. 14, and started gathering support for the measure in fall of 2009. Among the support he has garnered thus far is the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, with nearly 300 companies on its roster.

Prop. 14 proposes an open primary system that allows any registered voter to run, similar to that used in Washington state. Because it does not nominate candidates to represent the political parties, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld this system in a case decided last year.

Opponents to Prop. 14 posit that gerrymandered districts increase the likelihood that the final two candidates to emerge from an open primary could be from the same political party, thus reducing voter choice for those belonging to an opposing party.

Prop. 14 supporters counter that the state Legislature has become increasingly polarized along party lines, and an open primary system would force candidates to have to appeal to independent voters – who constitute 20 percent of registered voters – as well as voters from the opposite party.

Supporters posit such a system is likely to increase the percentage of moderate candidates from any political party. A more moderate Legislature would, supporters say, mean less gridlock and more compromises reached. Supporters also say this system would work well with Prop. 11, passed in 2008, which is bringing about redistricting reform.

While leaders of political parties may not like an open primary, rank-and-file voters do, with strong support among Democrats, Republicans and independents.