Election System

In the first broad test of California's new "top-two" election system, many candidates in heated races for Congress and the state Legislature have been campaigning earlier, spending more money and downplaying their party affiliation as they try to widen their appeal. Gone are the party primaries, except in the presidential race. Now all state candidates appear on a single ballot. Only those who come in first or second on June 5 will move on to the November general election, in which no write-in or other added candidates will be allowed.

Los Angeles County officials rejected a bid Tuesday from several Santa Clarita Valley school districts and a water district hoping to consolidate elections and avoid the kind of voting rights lawsuits that other local governments have been hit with. The measure failed on a 2-2 vote, with Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas abstaining. County election officials  opposed the change, arguing that shifting the districts to November even-year elections would exceed their ability to conduct elections.

California's new "top-two" primary election will be put to its first widespread test Tuesday, when state voters will be free to select candidates for Congress and the statehouse regardless of political party. The new primary sends the two candidates who receive the most votes to November's general election, opening the door for independent candidates and same-party slugfests. In past years, incumbents enjoyed a firm advantage. But Tuesday's election will have one of the largest batches of competitive races in decades for the Legislature and Congress.

Latinos and African Americans make up about two-thirds of the population of Palmdale. But since the city's incorporation in August 1962, not a single black resident and only one Latino has ever served on the City Council. That's the backdrop of a complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court by Antelope Valley civil rights activists alleging racial bias in city elections in this High Desert locale. The complaint argues that Palmdale's system of at-large council seats dilutes the influence of minority voters.

Though the nation's election system avoided a meltdown in the presidential race, experts said Wednesday that it still needs to be closely examined for the way it handled the high voter turnout and myriad other strains and irregularities. Federal officials, local agencies and independent watchdogs said a wide range of problems needed to be examined.

When Sean Tevis decided to run for a seat in the Kansas Legislature, he faced a serious problem: money. Local political advisors warned the campaign novice that he would need a war chest of at least $26,000 to compete against his entrenched Republican rival. It seemed like a fortune to the 39-year-old Democrat.

Afghans will go to the polls Sept. 18 to elect their parliament under a system that some experts say could make it difficult for President Hamid Karzai to govern this war-torn nation. Bismillah Bismil, head of the joint Afghan and United Nations election commission, said Sunday that the election date had been set after consultations with U.N. officials, representatives of political parties and Karzai's administration. Last week, U.S.

Los Angeles-area Democrats scrambled for the chance to fill a rare open seat in Congress after veteran Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice) announced Monday that she would probably resign to run a Washington think tank. Within hours, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn said she would be a candidate. California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, who represented much of the district in the Legislature, let it be known that she was "seriously considering" the idea. Activist Marcy Winograd, who mounted a strong but unsuccessful challenge to the moderate Harman from the left in last year's primary, said she was "exploring the possibility.

Responding to long-standing complaints that Latinos are grossly underrepresented in local government, the city of Compton has agreed to settle a voting rights lawsuit with a plan that could change how officials are elected. The suit was aimed at making it easier for Latinos, who now account for nearly two-thirds of the city's 96,000 residents, to gain greater clout at City Hall, where all council members and most of the top city leaders are black. This imbalance has been the subject of much debate over the years as Compton's Latino population has grown and its black population has declined, part of a larger trend that has been reducing African American political clout across L.A. County.

The Supreme Court upheld the state of Washington's open primary election system, a setback for the Republican and Democratic political parties in the state. By a 7-2 vote, the court said the state could use a primary system that allowed the top two vote-getters to advance to the general election, even if they were from the same party. Washington never held a primary under the voter-approved system because of legal challenges. Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas said that overturning the plan would have been an "extraordinary and precipitous nullification of the will of the people."

SACRAMENTO - State lawmakers were sworn in to a reshaped Legislature on Monday, with Democrats holding historic two-thirds supermajorities in both houses and the party's leaders calling for investment in public education and infrastructure after years of fiscal retrenchment. Arguing that California had turned the page on its perpetual budget crisis, leaders ticked off a list of priorities, saying they would use their new powers to help restore spending to popular social services and curb tuition at public colleges.

Former President Clinton used a Tuesday night appearance in Irvine to rip Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and GOP congressional leaders for putting America's middle class, women's rights and the country's environmental health at risk, and urged Californians to send Democrats to Washington in next month's election. Clinton fired up the young, friendly crowd at UC Irvine during a campus rally for five Democrats locked in tight congressional races in Southern California.

If the spectacle of two career Democrats going at it over bragging rights to Republican support seems odd, blame it on California's new election system. The June primary sent the top two vote-getters to the November election, producing several same-party contests in which candidates are vying for voters outside their own party. The competition for that unusual support has reached ferocious proportions in the high-profile clash between seasoned Democratic Reps. Brad Sherman and Howard Berman.

When Disneyland first opened to the public on a sweltering July day in 1955, the city of Anaheim wasn't much more than an orange grove. It had all of 15,000 residents and was known mostly for its Halloween parade. More than half a century later, almost everything has changed. Disneyland helped spur a development boom that has made the city California's 10th largest. Once a suburban and almost entirely white town, it now is 53% Latino and about 15% Asian. Whites make up about 27% of the city's population.

California's new "top-two" primary election will be put to its first widespread test Tuesday, when state voters will be free to select candidates for Congress and the statehouse regardless of political party. The new primary sends the two candidates who receive the most votes to November's general election, opening the door for independent candidates and same-party slugfests. In past years, incumbents enjoyed a firm advantage. But Tuesday's election will have one of the largest batches of competitive races in decades for the Legislature and Congress.

In the first broad test of California's new "top-two" election system, many candidates in heated races for Congress and the state Legislature have been campaigning earlier, spending more money and downplaying their party affiliation as they try to widen their appeal. Gone are the party primaries, except in the presidential race. Now all state candidates appear on a single ballot. Only those who come in first or second on June 5 will move on to the November general election, in which no write-in or other added candidates will be allowed.

Los Angeles County officials rejected a bid Tuesday from several Santa Clarita Valley school districts and a water district hoping to consolidate elections and avoid the kind of voting rights lawsuits that other local governments have been hit with. The measure failed on a 2-2 vote, with Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas abstaining. County election officials  opposed the change, arguing that shifting the districts to November even-year elections would exceed their ability to conduct elections.

Florida asked the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday for help in preventing another election mess in November. In a letter to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, Florida Secretary of State Jim Smith said confidence in the state's efforts to reform its election system was shaken by problems in Miami-Dade and Broward counties during last week's Democratic primary for governor. "The fate of election reform in Florida--and perhaps our nation--rests upon an immediate and effective response," Smith wrote.

Election officials have begun sending out vote-by-mail ballots for the June 5 primary. The forms can be requested from county registrars until May 29. But May 21 is the last day to register to vote in this year's primary, which will mark the first widespread use of California's new election system, approved by state voters in 2010. Party primaries are a thing of the past for all but the office of president and for county central committees. This year, all voters will get a single ballot listing every candidate for their congressional and state legislative districts.

Responding to long-standing complaints that Latinos are grossly underrepresented in local government, the city of Compton has agreed to settle a voting rights lawsuit with a plan that could change how officials are elected. The suit was aimed at making it easier for Latinos, who now account for nearly two-thirds of the city's 96,000 residents, to gain greater clout at City Hall, where all council members and most of the top city leaders are black. This imbalance has been the subject of much debate over the years as Compton's Latino population has grown and its black population has declined, part of a larger trend that has been reducing African American political clout across L.A. County.