CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2015–2016 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Concurrent Resolution
No. 145
Introduced by Assembly Member Olsen
(Principal coauthor: Senator Cannella)
|
February 29, 2016 |
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of the United States, and those whose names are placed on the ballot by petition, but excluding any candidate who has withdrawn by filing an affidavit of noncandidacy.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.
Digest Key
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.