The Independent Voter Project, authors of California’s new nonpartisan “Top-Two Open Primary” (Proposition 14), will be filing a new initiative with the California Secretary of State that will cut right to the core of partisan institutionalization.
The new initiative, which is undergoing preliminary drafting, would prohibit the use of public tax dollars for the purpose of funding partisan activities including, but not limited to, state political party central committees, partisan state conventions, reimbursement of travel or other expenses to party officials, and reimbursement for travel and other expenses for state officials or government employees for carrying out political party functions.
Additionally, IVP has begun the process of drafting a legal complaint — to be filed in federal court — challenging the constitutionality of using taxpayer funds to support such partisan activities. The basis of the lawsuit rests on the precedent established by political parties themselves, whereby parties have shielded themselves from higher standards of scrutiny based on their status as private organizations.