By admin 
A Sacramento-area Assembly member has introduced an eleventh-hour request to make sure that voters, no matter their political party, aren’t excluded from elections.
Read more Despite setbacks for tiny homes, Sacramento mayor vows to keep projects moving
The proposed constitutional amendment from Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen, D-Elk Grove, is in response to the possibility that the state’s primary rules may change.
Under current California law, voters can cast ballots for state and federal offices no matter what political party they are registered to.
A possible ballot initiative put forward by Democratic consultant Steve Maviglio would repeal the state law that allows for that system, which is known as a jungle primary. All candidates run against each other at once.
It is different from an open primary system, where voters can cast a vote for a candidate for a different political party. In a closed primary, voters are generally limited to only voting for candidates of their own declared party.
Read more California Legislature passes slavery disclosure bill, sends to Gavin Newsom
Proponents need to collect more than 870,000 signatures for it to appear in a future election. If it were to pass, Nguyen’s measure would prevent a California voter from being “excluded from meaningful participation at any integral stage of any publicly funded election, including a primary election, on any basis, including political party preference.”
Nguyen, in a statement, said the bill was not about any political party.
“It is about the voters we all answer to,” she said. “Every one of them helps pay for these elections, and every one of them deserves an equal say in who represents them.”
The Secretary of State’s Office declined to comment on the proposal.
To go into effect, the bill needs to be approved by two-thirds of both the California Senate and Assembly before Sept. 1 and then go before voters across the state in a future election.
Read more California Legislature passes slavery disclosure bill, sends to Gavin Newsom