California “Top-Two” Supporters Hope to Eliminate Write-in Space on California Ballots

California “Top-Two” Supporters Hope to Eliminate Write-in Space on California General Election Ballots at January 10 Hearing
January 6th, 2012

On January 10, at 1:30 p.m., the California Senate Elections Committee will hear AB 1413. The bill abolishes write-in space on general election ballots for Congress and partisan state office. It also makes various other technical changes that will alter the top-two system passed by the voters in June 2010, when they approved Proposition 14 by a 53.7-46.3% margin.

Existing law says the ballot should contain write-in space, but that write-ins cannot be counted. It is wildly irrational for the existing law to leave write-in space on the ballot and yet say they can never be counted. There are two obvious ways to fix this: either repeal the law that says write-ins can’t be counted; or change the law to eliminate write-in space on ballots. The author of AB 1413, Assemblyman Paul Fong, has chosen the more repressive choice.

The California Senate Elections Committee has five members: Democrats Lou Correa of Orange County, Kevin deLeon of Los Angeles County, and Ted Lieu of Los Angeles County; and Republicans Doug LaMalfa of far northern California, and Ted Gaines from the Sacramento suburbs. If you happen to live in the district of any of these five Senators, please communicate to them before January 10 that you favor keeping write-in space on ballots.

The proponents of Proposition 14, despite their high-flown rhetoric about voter choice, are responsible for persuading the bill’s author to act against voter choice. Not all proponents of Proposition 14 favor eliminating write-in space, but the most powerful proponents, including the Nielsen Merksamer law firm, are strongly pushing to eliminate write-in space.