Stop Top Two Primary in California

The Green Party of California (GPCA) believes our democracy is enhanced by giving voters a real opportunity to vote for and elect representatives who reflect their views.

The GPCA opposed California's Proposition 14, the Top Two Primary, which narrowly passed in June 2010. Proposition 14 would take us further away from that goal by eliminating party primaries and only allowing two candidates to chose from on the General Election ballot, while also eliminating write-ins and independents from the ballot entirely.

Below is information about the legal case against the Top Two Primary, opinion pieces against the Top Two written by GPCA members, and video, audio and other archival documents from the GPCA's campaign against it.

Legal case against the Top Two

• Video: Legal case against Top Two Primaries, Proposition 14 and SB 6 - Richard Winger and Gautam Dutta (28:56)
A summary of the legal arguments against the Top Two primary (Proposition 14 in California, Initiative 872 in Washington State), as well as Proposition 14's implementing statute in California, Senate Bill 6. Presentation includes a status update of the legal cases against both. Featuring Richard Winger of Ballot Access News and Gautum Dutta, attorney against SB6. Filmed at the General Assemby of the Green Party of California. May 1st, 2011. Berkeley, California.
• Senate Bill 6 / Proposition 14 Lawsuit: Media Releases | Court Documents | News Coverage | Videos

Commentaries, opinion pieces, interviews and debates by Greens against the Top Two

• Blowback: The Prop. 14 bait-and-switch. By Michael Feinstein. Special to the Los Angeles Times. June 5, 2010:
• KPPC Radio Debate: Proposition 14 - creates a top-two primary election. Featuring California Green Michael Feinstein. May 29, 2010:
• Opinion: Prop 14 is Bad for Smaller Parties, Bad for Democracy Overall. By Michael Feinstein. Special to Fox and Hounds Daily. May 27, 2010:
• Video: Green Party Opposes Prop 14. Television ad by the Green Party of California. May 20, 2010
• Opinion: Prop. 14 would weaken democracy, voter choice. By Michael Feinstein. Special to the San Jose Mercury News. May 12, 2010.
• Proposition 14: No, No, No. Elections: Restricts November choices & alters primary election. Green Voter Guide, Green Party of Alameda County. May 8, 2010.
• Editorial: Proposition Will Make Our Broken Two-Party Political System Even Worse. By Ann Menasche, Green Party Candidate for Secretary of State. East County Magazine. April 15, 2010.
• Prop 14 takes away voters’choices at ballot, gives more power to big corporations. By Ann Menasche, Green Party Candidate for Secretary of State. Green Focus, newspaper of the Green Party of California. April 15, 2010.
• Opinion: Thirteen Reasons To Vote No on Prop 14/Top Two Why Prop 14 would be bad for democracy and government in California. By Mike Feinstein. Green Focus, newspaper of the Green Party of California. April 15, 2010.
• Video: Top Two Primary/Proposition 14 Debate: Feinstein vs. Gesicki. Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee Debate. April 4, 2010.

No on Prop 14 Materials and References

Final Letter Writing Project
Please help by sending a letter to the editor! This announcement provides you with all the tools you need to compose a lettter and find a local paper in just a few minutes. [TXT 5 KB]
Stop Top Two web site
A very good site from the folks at the Free and Equal Foundation
Prop 14 Flyer
Tri-fold, colored flyer for general distribution. [PDF 1.3 MB]Native file in Adobe Illustator format [AI 2 MB]Update: The flyer content was updated on Mar. 26 to be more generic and less centered on the GPCA.Printing tips: Printing a tri-fold takes some experimenting to get it to line up properly. If printing from Adobe Reader, set Page Scaling to 'none.' Do not shrink or scale. Do 'Auto-Rotate and Center.' Use your printer's 'Bordeless' or 'Print to Edge' printing feature, if it has it. All printers vary so you will have to expirement.
Prop 14 Quarter Sheet Handout
Four-per-page handount; double-sided; black & white. [PDF 263 KB]
Build Your Own Flyer
Generic text to build your localized flyer. In MS Word format. [DOC, 26 KB] GP graphics are at cagreens.org/it/. Scroll down to the "Icons and Logos" heading.
Sample Op-Ed Piece
UPDATED   A Green Party op-ed opposing Prop 14 and promoting IRV. Can be trimmed down for a letter to the editor. In MS Word format. [DOC, 26 KB]
Letters to the Editor
226 word letter. In MS Word format. [DOC, 23 KB]
144 word letter. In text format. [TXT, 0.9 KB]
Bookmarks
"No on 14" bookmarks. One-page. Print a stack, turn the paper over and print again, then cut. Paper cutter recommended. In MS Word format. [DOC, 45 KB]
Prop 14 Handout
One-page handout written by GPCA Press Secretary. Media oriented. [PDF 163 kB]
Project Announcement
Original announcement sent to Green Party Locals. Background info, organizing and talking points. [web page]
Fresno LiteratureFresno County contributed a flyer and button art advocating No on 14 and Yes on 15. You need Microsoft Publisher to open the files, which can then be customized for your Local.
MS Publisher is standard equipment the Microsoft Office suite. Probably usable in Open Office suite.
Flyer
Two-sided, quarter-sheet flyer. [PUB 32 kB]
Button Art
For 2.25" button stock. [PUB 26 kB]