SDCTA remains Neutral on Prop 14 - Top Two Primaries Act, 2010
The State of California generally holds two statewide elections to elect a candidate to public office, a primary election and a general election. Some public offices (such as Congressional offices, the Governor, and members of the Legislature) are partisan, which means that a candidate represents a political party in an election. For these partisan offices, the primary election determines each political party's nominee for public office. The candidate receiving the most votes among a party's candidates is that party's nominee for the general election. In the general election, voters then choose among all of the parties' nominees, as well as any independent candidates, to elect a candidate to office. A "closed" primary system is one in which voters of one party cannot vote for candidates of any other party. In California, however, parties may allow voters with no party affiliation to vote in their party primary. This is referred to as a modified closed primary. See Table 1 for an overview of typical terms used with primaries. See Figure 1 for a chart that shows this system.