Upgrade Top Two Press Release

For immediate release

Two California election reform organizations, California Approves and Equal Vote Coalition, have launched an online petition asking the state legislature to adopt Approval Voting for state and federal elections that use “Top Two” voting. With Approval Voting, a voter can select as many candidates as they would approve of for the general election rather than being limited to picking a single choice. 

Calls for reform or elimination of the Top Two system have recently been stirred up by the prospect of a Democratic-leaning state ending up with two Republicans as the only candidates for governor on the general election ballot.

“Approval Voting is a simple upgrade that will repair a number of problems with Top Two,” says Alan Savage, President of California Approves. “Most importantly, the two candidates with the broadest support advance to the general election ballot, rather than the two candidates who are the single choice of a small fraction of the voters.”

“Voters are going to be unhappy when they see their ballot for the governor’s race,” adds Alan Zundel, a retired political scientist and member of the Equal Vote Coalition. “They will have to figure out their one choice from over sixty candidates, with multiple candidates from the major political parties. Do I pick who I most agree with or someone who has a  better chance to make it through the primary? What if I like several candidates but for different reasons? What if I like two equally? Approval Voting cuts through such dilemmas by removing the restriction of making a single choice.”

Approval voting has been successfully used in U.S. cities, the United Nations Security Council, U.S. political parties, and private organizations.

The petition may be signed at www.upgradetoptwo.org

CONTACTS:

Alan Savage, [email protected]

Alan Zundel, [email protected]