California voters fed up with partisan politics have scrapped their multiple-party primary system.
Proposition 14, approved Tuesday, transforms the way the nation’s largest state picks candidates running for state and federal office.
Beginning in 2011, only the top two vote-getters from a single primary ballot that includes candidates from all parties will advance to the general election. That means two candidates from the same political party could face off in a general election.
The measure was supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who says it will make it easier for more moderate, pragmatic politicians to win state and federal office.
The state’s Republican and Democratic parties say the measure gives well-funded candidates backed by special interests an unfair advantage.