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Initiative to undo California’s top two primary is officially underway

California's Capitol building in Sacramento
Andre M.
/
Wikimedia / Creative Commons
California's Capitol building in Sacramento

An effort to get rid of California’s top two primary system is officially underway. That’s after the Secretary of State cleared the initiative’s proponents to start collecting signatures this week.

California’s current primary process allows the top two voter getters to advance to the general election, regardless of which party they belong to.

Proponents for repealing this process argue it locks third party candidates out of races and gives voters less of a choice when two candidates of the same party face off in a general election.

Opponents to the initiative argue repealing the top two primary could disenfranchise No Party Preference voters who could lose their chance to vote in primaries.