CA: Opponents and Advocates of Prop 14 Call for Easing Ballot Access Restrictions

At Ballot Access News, Richard Winger argues that defeat of California's Proposition 14 will likely result in effective challenges to the existing ballot access regime in the state:

if Proposition 14 is defeated, there is substantial reason to believe that some of California’s ballot access laws can and will be altered in court. 1. The California deadline for qualifying a new party, which is in the first week of January. . . . 2. The California restriction that does not permit anyone to be nominated by write-ins at a party primary, unless that write-in candidate receives a number of votes equal to 1% of the last general election. . . . 3. The California restriction that says no one can be on the primary ballot of a party if that person was a member of another qualified party in the entire year before filing.

Advocates of Proposition 14 are also arguing in favor of easing ballot access restrictions.  From Greg Lucas at the CAIVN:

The Legislature should quickly make it easier for candidates who don’t state a party preference to run for state office, advocates of Proposition 14, the so-called “Top-Two” open primary proposal on the June ballot, told reporters May 26.  Three members of the board of the California Independent Voter Project (CAIVP), which helped draft the proposition and create the California Independent Voter Network (CAIVN), said a variety of factors hobble independent candidates from qualifying for the ballot, including vastly higher signature collection requirements and a short time frame to gather them.