June 8, 2026
Your Premier Source on Third Parties and Independent Candidates Since 2008
From Richard Winger at Ballot Access News:
On January 15, the California State Appeals Court based in San Francisco heard oral arguments in Rubin v Bowen, the case in which minor parties sued to overturn the top-two primary system on the grounds that the system disenfranchises voters in the general election who wish to vote for minor party candidates.…
From the Libertarian Party website:
The California Court of Appeals is conducting a hearing this week as to whether the top-two primary system unconstitutionally harms the voting rights of voters who want to vote for minor party candidates in general elections.…
Dave Weigel has this analysis at Bloomberg Politics on the California U.S. Senate race for 2016. Because incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer won’t run for re-election, it is likely that four or five prominent Democrats might run for the seat.
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From Richard Winger at Ballot Access News:
On December 24, U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter upheld California’s ban on write-in votes at the general election for Congress and partisan state office.…
Is it possible that third parties in California could organize an initiative for 2016 to neutralize Top-two?
Posted to kqednews
By John Myers
November 12, 2014
Here’s one to ponder as we await the tallying of tens of thousands of uncounted ballots: Will this fall’s voter malaise in California plant the seeds for a ballot initiative frenzy in two years?…
From Richard Winger at Ballot Access News:
Based on preliminary election returns, it appears the percentage of the vote in the November 2014 election for independent and minor party candidates, for the office at the top of the ballot, was 4.4%.…
From Richard Winger at Ballot Access News:
The Alameda County Green Party here suggests that California voters vote next month, but that they cast blank ballots for all the seven partisan statewide races.…
Michael Bloomberg, former Republican/independent mayor of New York City & 8th richest man in the country, has reportedly contributed over one million dollars to promote Oregon’s Measure 90, the “Top Two” election system.…
From Ballot Access News:
On September 30, California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 2351, which makes it easier for a group to qualify as a party in California, and also makes it easier for an already-existing party to remain ballot-qualified.…