Libertarian Party of California Backs Initiative to End Top-Two Primary

The Libertarian Party of California is backing an effort to repeal the state’s top-two primary system, reaffirming its earlier support for a proposed constitutional amendment now in the process of collecting signatures to place the question on the 2028 ballot.

In a statement published earlier in August, the party said its Executive Committee unanimously reaffirmed its endorsement of the “Undo the Top Two” initiative at its monthly meeting. The committee previously endorsed the proposal without objection during its July 14 meeting, the same day California election officials first cleared the measure for circulation among registered voters.

The proposal would amend the California Constitution to end the top-two system the state currently uses for congressional and state elections, under which all candidates compete in the same primary and only the two highest vote-getters advance to November, regardless of partisan affiliation. It would instead require the Legislature to establish a process in which the leading candidate from each political party advances to the general election.

“California voters deserve the opportunity to vote for candidates who represent their values in the General Election,” Libertarian Party of California Chair Loren Dean said. “The top-two system has largely eliminated third-party candidates from the November ballot and, because California also prohibits write-in votes for partisan offices in the General Election, leaves millions of voters without the opportunity to vote for a candidate who represents them.”

California voters adopted the top-two system through Proposition 14 in 2010, approving the measure at the time with roughly 54 percent of the vote. Before its implementation, each qualified political party generally selected its own nominee to advance to the general election—a system the proposal now being circulated would effectively seek to restore.

Supporters of the proposal must collect at least 874,641 valid signatures from registered voters in order to qualify the measure for the statewide ballot. Organizers have said they’re seeking to place the measure on the November 2028 ballot, meaning they will need to submit petitions to county election officials by next January.

The Libertarian Party of California has opposed the current system since its adoption, including in court. The party joined the Green Party of California, Peace and Freedom Party, and others in a federal lawsuit against Secretary of State Shirley Weber in November 2024, arguing that the top-two system creates an unconstitutional barrier for alternative party candidates seeking to reach the general election. However, a federal judge dismissed that challenge this past April, along with another challenge to the state’s prohibition on general election write-in votes under the same system.

California Libertarians add that they have also called for additional changes to the state’s election system beyond the repeal of top two, including ranked ballots and proportional representation. For now, however, the party said it considers the repeal proposal a “meaningful step” toward giving California voters a fuller range of candidates in future general elections.