Asm. Todd Gloria Proposes Top-Two Reform for San Diego County

image
Lynn Marie MorskiLynn Marie Morski
Published: 16 Mar, 2017
1 min read

Earlier today, California Assemblymember Todd Gloria announced a bill focused on reforming San Diego County’s elections.

Currently, the County Board of Supervisor elections are held in a manner in which a candidate can win outright in the June primary if he or she receives greater than 50% of the vote. Assembly Bill 901 would change this format to one in which the top two vote-getters in the June primary would go on to the general election in November.

This type of change is important because voter turnout in June primaries is historically much lower than turnout in the November general election. In 2014, a non-presidential election year, the turnout in June was only 20 percent.

Under the current rules, those 20 percent of voters could decide which candidate wins outright, with the voters in November not having any chance to weigh in on the race.

In 2016, the turnout in San Diego elections was 30 percent greater in November , and in 2012, turnout in November was twice that of the June primary. The numbers are even more striking when looking at young voters, voters of color, and independent voters.

In a press release, Assemblymember Gloria stated:

“Decisions about who will serve the public and lead our government should occur when voter participation is at its highest. That is undeniably during the General Election and not the Primary.”

Gloria’s introduction of AB 901 is consistent with his support of similar measures that passed overwhelmingly in the City of San Diego in November. Those measures, Measures K and L, co-sponsored by the Independent Voter Project (a co-publisher of IVN), brought the same type of change to San Diego City elections. This aligned the city's elections with state and federal elections, and now AB 901 aims to bring the county in line as well.

Photo retrieved from Times of San Diego

You Might Also Like

Proposition 50 voter guide
California Prop 50: Partisan Power Play or Necessary Counterpunch?
November 4 marks a special election for what has become the most controversial ballot measure in California in recent memory: Proposition 50, which would circumvent congressional districts drawn by the state’s independent redistricting commission for a legislative-drawn map....
01 Oct, 2025
-
9 min read
court gavel.
Virtual Discussion: The Fight for Equal Independent Voting Rights Makes it to SCOTUS
Every major voting rights movement in U.S. history – whether successful or not – has intertwined with landmark litigation. This was the case for women’s suffrage. It was the case for civil rights. And it is the case in the ongoing effort to protect the right of all voters to have equal participation in taxpayer-funded elections – something millions of independent voters are denied across the U.S....
29 Sep, 2025
-
2 min read
Supreme Court building
SCOTUS Considers Challenge to Closed Primaries -- Here's Why It Is Such a Big Deal
In a dramatic step forward for litigation challenging closed primaries, the U.S. Supreme Court has indicated they are going to conference to discuss whether to grant a writ of certiorari to Polelle v. Florida Secretary of State; a case challenging Florida's closed primaries that Open Primaries has supported since its inception....
26 Sep, 2025
-
2 min read