Two panels of political science experts convened in the IGS Library on Friday, April 25 to discuss the 2010 change to the California electoral system. In this new system, Democrats and Republicans no longer run solely against each other. The "Top Two" candidates out of the primary round of voting now advance onto the general election regardless of political affiliation, meaning, for example, two Republicans or a Democrat and an Independent could face each other at the end. But does this system really give the voters of California more choice?
The opinions seem to be mixed. Betsy Sinclair of Washington University explained the trouble in measuring the impact on voters of the Top Two system. "What we are looking for, as academics, is something 'sticky,'" said Sinclair, "something that didn’t change."
David W. Brady, Professor of Political Science and Deputy Director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, points out that America is unique because it has primaries. "The United States is the only country that has democracy within the parties before you can run against the other party," said Brady. "That weakens parties." The keynote speaker doubted that the Top Two will generate more interest from voters because primaries themselves are not that interesting. "They don’t even know where the 33rd District is," joked Brady. "And neither do I!"
Ben Tulchin, Founder and President of Tulchin Research, thinks the change that the academics did find was a problem with partisanship. "It disproportionately hurts Democrats," Tulchin said. "It was put forth by Republican sponsors."
A majority of the panelists agreed that the Top Two system has changed how candidates run for office. Instead of just running against the person on the other side of the fence on key issues, it now forces opponents within parties. It also costs more to run two campaigns; one in the primary and one in the general elections. The real shift in voting patterns will be seen in the June 2014 ballots.