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by C. T. Weber

Be aware Californians, on your June 8, 2010, direct primary ballot will be a very dangerous proposition which appears very harmless. It is called the Top Two Candidates Open Primary. I had always thought the purpose of a primary was to allow each political party to select who would run in the general election against the winners of the other parties. However, the purpose of this proposition is to put all candidates, for the same office on the same ballot in the primary election. Here’s the killer: only the two candidates with the highest vote totals for each office, regardless of party preference, would then compete for the office at the ensuing general election. This will probably result in one Democratic and one Republican candidate for each office. However, in some cases it will be two Democratic candidates and in other cases it will result in two Republican candidates. Voters will be denied the opportunity to vote in the general election for candidates from the four smaller parties. The passage of the Top Two proposition will reduce your choices in the general election to only two.