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Graduated Random Presidential Primary System

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The Graduated Random Presidential Primary System, also known as the California Plan or the American Plan, is a proposed system to reform the conduct of United States Presidential primary campaigns. Under this system the campaign period would be broken into ten two-week periods in which an escalating number of electoral votes would be contested. This plan was developed in response to the trend toward front-loading in recent primary campaigns and the influence wielded by Iowa and New Hampshire, which traditionally hold their nominating events before any other state.

The Plan

Under the California Plan, the primary season would be divided into ten two-week periods. In the first period, any combination of randomly selected states (or territories) could vote, as long as their combined number of electoral votes added up to eight. The territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, which do not hold electoral votes but do send delegates to nominating conventions, are counted as holding one electoral vote each, as would the District of Columbia (The 23rd Amendment states that the District may send delegates to the Electoral College, as long as it does not have more votes than the least populous state.). In each subsequent period, the number of votes contested would increase by eight. As a result, the early campaign would feature contests in several small states or a few larger ones, becoming more and more demanding as time went by.

A problem encountered by the plan is that of large states. Because of the large gap between populations of the most populous states, California - the state with the highest population - could vote no earlier than the seventh period, while the second most populous state, Texas, as well as New York and Florida, the third and fourth largest, could vote in the fourth. California, unlike all other states, would always have to hold its primary toward the end of the campaign. To remedy this, the later stages of the California Plan primary are staggered. The seventh period (8x7) is moved before the fourth (8x4), the eighth (8x8) before the fifth (8x5), and the ninth (8x9) before the sixth (8x6). [1]

Criticism and Support

Critics of the California Plan point out that its random selection system could lead to high travel costs for candidates, and that it may be biased toward liberal states.

The plan is supported by the Young Democrats of America[2], California Young Democrats [3], and Ops-Alaska[4].

See also

Reform Plans

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.fairvote.org/?page=965
  2. ^ http://www.fairvote.org/?page=1568
  3. ^ http://fairvote.org/?page=1160
  4. ^ http://www.ops-alaska.com/
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