CAIVP Hands Over Non-Partisan Initiative Option.

Nowhere is gridlock more evident than in California's beleaguered Capitol building. Would eliminating partisan voter registration trump the partisan bickering between Democrats and Republicans? Would it increase independent voter clout? How about third parties?

CAIVP's idea factory has launched the debate after more than a year of internal study and analysis of electoral structures around the country. The top-two runoff primary is borrowed from the state of Washington's new primary process recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

CAIVP Chairman Steve Peace, an original cosponsor of California's popular Open Primary, submitted initiative language to Attorney General Jerry Brown during the first week of October. Both major parties opposed the Open Primary and found a friend in the U.S. Supreme Court when it ruled the system unconstitutional.

This time, the court has already acted and the people of California could have the last say.