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AP17:088

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 26, 2017
Contact:
SOS Press Office
(916) 653-6575

Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation

REPEALS CURRENT PRIMARY ELECTION SYSTEM IN STATE AND CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.

SACRAMENTO – Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced the proponent of a new initiative was cleared to begin collecting petition signatures yesterday.

The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:

REPEALS CURRENT PRIMARY ELECTION SYSTEM IN STATE AND CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Repeals the current primary elections system which provides for all candidates for an office to appear on a single primary ballot and for the two candidates with the most votes in the primary to advance to the general election, irrespective of party. Creates a primary election system based on political party for congressional, state legislative, and most statewide offices. Gives political parties that participate in the primary election for a partisan office the right to participate in the general election for that office. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: No significant net change in state and local government costs to administer elections. (17-0020.)

The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1816, and the Attorney General’s tracking number is 17-0020.

The proponent of the measure, Thomas E. Palzer, must collect the signatures of 585,407 registered voters (eight percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the November 2014 general election) in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponent has 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than April 23, 2018. The proponent can be reached at P.O. Box 2413 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91729.

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