Open primaries, anyone?

Imagine if the next time you headed down to the polls in a primary election you had the choice of voting for anyone on the ballot, regardless of your party affiliation or the affiliation of those running?

That's the system in California now. And at the risk of breaking a long-standing rule of never recommending California laws to Nevadans, I like this idea.

For your convenience the story is reprinted below. Read it for yourself and discuss among yourselves. I'll be with you as soon as I can.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger commended California voters Wednesday for dumping the state's partisan primary system and predicted fed-up voters would follow in other states.

However, there were no guarantees that passage of Proposition 14, which created open primaries in the state, would end the partisan bickering that has hamstrung Congress and state legislatures.

U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, pointed out that California's legislative and congressional districts are heavily gerrymandered and favor one party or the other.

Thus, the winner of the primary who is in the majority party typically coasts to victory in the general election.

In some heavily Democratic or Republican districts, the minority party may not have "somebody on the ballot in November to champion the causes" of that party, Waxman said.

Schwarzenegger, the state's outgoing Republican governor, contends that a partisan primary system forces candidates to pander to the extreme wing of their party to win primaries.

"We in California have said we've got to come to the center," Schwarzenegger said at a news conference Wednesday. "I think the rest of the nation eventually will find out this is exactly what the action is, not go way to the right, not go way to the left."

There was no indication Wednesday that other states were mobilizing to change their primaries.

California is only the third state to embrace open contests. Proposition 14 was patterned after a law in Washington state that survived a U.S. Supreme Court challenge and has been in effect since 2008. Louisiana has a similar open system for its general election.

In Utah, the Democratic House minority leader has introduced legislation to replace the state's party nominating process with an open primary.

Utah candidates are now chosen by delegates to state party conventions, a process that led to three-term U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett losing his party's nomination this year for re-election.

Its unclear whether the open primary proposal will advance in Utah. Republicans control the Legislature, and GOP chairman Dave Hansen has been an ardent defender of the party convention system.

Under Proposition 14, California voters can cast ballots for any candidate in a primary election, regardless of party, with the top two finishers moving on to the general election.

Approval of the measure reflected voter anger in California and across the nation at a system that critics complained has been dominated by a small coterie of political activists in each of the two major political parties.

Schwarzenegger's campaign committee gave $2 million to support the initiative, but he did not say whether he would be willing to put his political muscle behind a national open-primary effort. Later Wednesday, Schwarzenegger said his administration would share information with other states interested in an open primary.

At least one group is eyeing a court challenge of the California measure. The state Democratic Party also is weighing its options.

"We're ready to fight this nationwide," said Christina Tobin, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit Free & Equal Elections Foundation.

Tobin said attorneys planned to spend the next few weeks reviewing the initiative before filing a lawsuit.

Associated Press Writers Charles Babington in Washington, D.C., Cathy Bussewitz in Sacramento, and Brock Vergakis in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.