In 2012, California held its first elections under its new nonpartisan "Top-Two" Primary system. All statewide elections in California, except for the office of president, were conducted under this system. The presidential primary was, instead, conducted under the old semi-closed partisan primary rules.

The initiative that created the nonpartisan "top-two" system was authored by the Independent Voter Project (IVP) and passed by the voters in 2010 as an amendment to the California Constitution.

In late 2013, IVP filed an initiative with the secretary of state that would have explicitly required the state to conduct the presidential election as a nonpartisan primary as well.

In withdrawing the initiative, IVP submitted 3 legal questions for California's secretary of state, Debra Bowen, questioning whether its 2012 presidential primary was conducted properly:

Background:
Questions:

IVP is currently spearheading a state-by-state legal strategy to challenge partisan primary systems under the coalition, End Partisanship.

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