CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Constitutional Amendment
No. 16

Introduced by Assembly Member Kiley

June 20, 2022

A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by amending Section 5 of Article II thereof, relating to elections.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


ACA 16, as introduced, Kiley. Elections: partisan primaries.
The California Constitution provides for a voter-nominated primary election to select the candidates for congressional and state elective offices in California. The California Constitution provides that all voters may vote at a voter-nominated primary election for any candidate for congressional and state elective office without regard to the political party preference of the candidate or the voter, and the top 2 vote-getters, regardless of party preference, compete in the ensuing general election. The California Constitution prohibits a political party or party central committee from nominating a candidate for any congressional or state elective office at the voter-nominated primary.
This measure would repeal those provisions relating to voter-nominated offices, including the requirement that the top 2 vote-getters, regardless of party preference, compete in the ensuing general election, thereby reclassifying congressional and state elective offices as partisan offices. The measure instead would require the Legislature to provide for primary elections for partisan offices, and would provide that a political party that participated in a primary election for a partisan office, including congressional and state elective office, has the right to participate in the general election for that office and may not be denied the ability to place on the general election ballot the candidate who received, at the primary election, the highest vote among that party’s candidates.
Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  
Resolved by the Assembly, the Senate concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California at its 2021–22 Regular Session commencing on the seventh day of December 2020, two-thirds of the membership of each house concurring, hereby proposes to the people of the State of California that the Constitution of the State be amended as follows:

 That Section 5 of Article II thereof is amended to read:

SEC. 5.

(a)A voter-nomination primary election shall be conducted to select the candidates for congressional and state elective offices in California. All voters may vote at a voter-nominated primary election for any candidate for congressional and state elective office without regard to the political party preference disclosed by the candidate or the voter, provided that the voter is otherwise qualified to vote for candidates for the office in question. The candidates who are the top two vote-getters at a voter-nominated primary election for a congressional or state elective office shall, regardless of party preference, compete in the ensuing general election.

(b)Except as otherwise provided by Section 6, a candidate for a congressional or state elective office may have his or her political party preference, or lack of political party preference, indicated upon the ballot for the office in the manner provided by statute. A political party or party central committee shall not nominate a candidate for any congressional or state elective office at the voter-nominated primary. This subdivision shall not be interpreted to prohibit a political party or party central committee from endorsing, supporting, or opposing any candidate for a congressional or state elective office. A political party or party central committee shall not have the right to have its preferred candidate participate in the general election for a voter-nominated office other than a candidate who is one of the two highest vote-getters at the primary election, as provided in subdivision (a).

(c)

SEC. 5.
 (a) The Legislature shall provide for partisan primary elections for presidential candidates, and political party and party central committees, partisan offices, including an open presidential primary 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.

(d)

(b) A political party that participated in a primary election for a partisan office pursuant to subdivision (c) has the right to participate in the general election for that office and shall not be denied the ability to place on the general election ballot the candidate who received, at the primary election, the highest vote among that party’s candidates.