Voters Want Top Two Open Primaries

OPEN PRIMARIES

• California’s Golden Opportunity at Bipartisanship (Reid Wilson, National Journal/On the Trail) The second development, ironically, gives the parties much less say in selecting a nominee. Under a 2010 voter initiative, the top two finishers in a primary advance to the general election—regardless of their party affiliation. That means there is no guarantee a Republican or Democrat makes it through to November; a primary could just as easily produce two Republicans, or two Democrats (That was almost the case in a recent special election in California's 36th Congressional District, where a Republican businessman made it to the general election by a scant margin).
• Group seeks single primary to counter Ariz. party extremists (by Mary Jo Pitzl, The Arizona Republic) The Arizona Open Government Coalition wants to replace those traditional primaries, which they largely blame for what they describe as the state's extremist politics, with a single-primary system open to all voters. Under its proposal, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, would advance to the general election.