New news on the Non-partisan primary is coming from PolitickerCA.com. Ben van der Meer reports that former Democratic Senator Steve Peace is pushing for the open primary initiative to be on th 2010 ballot:

That’s the estimation of former state Sen. Steve Peace (D-San Diego), who is pushing for an open primary system through a ballot measure voters could decide on in 2010.

The measure was filed with the state in September, then withdrawn in October after receiving public comments. Peace said that he and other members of the California Independent Voter Project will study the comments and make small changes to the measure before submitting it again.

Peace said the concept is based on an open primary used in Washington known as the “top-two” system, where voters could cast ballots for members of any party in a primary election.

Under the top-two system, the two candidates who receive the most votes in the primary, regardless of party, then advance to the general election. Peace noted that many cities already use such a system in mayoral elections, for example.

“I don’t think it changes the outcome, but it changes behavior,” Peace said. In primaries now, he said, party nominees are largely chosen by a small, ideologically rigid group of voters because Democrats and Republicans largely don’t allow registered voters from other parties to vote in their primary…

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