Lawsuit Filed to Challenge Prop 14

A lawsuit has been filed in the Alameda County Superior Court to challenge the new “Top Two Primary” and request an injunction to prevent its use in the 2012 and 2014 elections. The lawsuit was filed Monday against Secretary of State Debra Bowen by Michael Rubin, Manja Argue, Steve Collett, Marsha Feinland, Charles L. Hooper, Katherine Tanaka, C. T. Weber, Cat Woods, the Green Party of Alameda Co., the Libertarian Party of California, and the Peace and Freedom Party of California.

At a press conference outside of the Secretary of State’s office this morning, the plaintiffs made a case very similar to that described by Dr. Levinson in her recent Loyola Law Review article; that the new law will create a de facto barrier to minor party participation in General Elections, which will result in their eventual disqualification. Richard Winger, editor of the Ballot Access News, noted that this is just the latest in a number of judicial and legislative attempts to clarify or correct issues with Proposition 14.