Approval Voting Primary Measure Filed with California Attorney General; Public Comment Open Through October 12

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — September 15, 2026 — California Approves announced that the Approval Voting for Primary Elections Act was submitted to the California Attorney General's Office on September 11, 2026 with a request for a circulating title and summary. The measure has been assigned tracking number 26-0006, with Amanda Mahlendorf as proponent.

The filing opens a 30-day public review period under Elections Code § 9002. The full text is posted on the Attorney General's Active Measures page, where any member of the public may submit written comments through October 12, 2026 using the "Submit Comment" link beside initiative 26-0006: oag.ca.gov/initiatives/active-measures. An overview of the reform is available at californiaapproves.org/our-reforms/approval-primary.

The measure would change one thing about California's voter-nominated primaries for state and congressional office: instead of marking a single candidate, voters could mark every candidate they approve of. The two candidates with the most approvals would advance to the general election, as they do today.

"This act is about improving California politics by finding the representatives we agree on. Californians should be free to like as many candidates as they want. When a group picks a restaurant, nobody names just one place they'd want to go. We say what works for us and find where we overlap," said Alan Savage, founder of California Approves.

Sixty-one candidates, one allowed mark

Sixty-one candidates appeared on the June 2, 2026 primary ballot for governor. Voters could mark exactly one of them. The two candidates who advanced to November had just 28% and 24.6% each; the rest of the vote was divided among candidates who were eliminated.

By counting every approval instead of forcing voters to pick just one, the Approval Voting for Primary Elections Act can surface support that choose-one voting hides, advancing candidates that are more broadly supported by the electorate.

Candidates have to win broadly, not just intensely. Under a choose-one rule, a candidate can advance with a narrow, committed base while most voters are divided across other names. Today, we cannot distinguish between a candidate voters don’t want and one whose support was simply split. Approval voting closes that path. Once every approval counts, a candidate with 51 percent support and 49 percent opposition is no longer safe from a rival who can reach 55 or 60 percent approval. The winning strategy shifts from consolidating a narrow faction toward assembling the widest possible coalition, from dividing voters toward uniting them.

Nothing new to buy. No new voting machines, no new software, no new ballot design. The instruction line changes from "vote for one" to "vote for as many as you approve of." Counties tally approvals by summing the marks for each candidate, the same arithmetic they perform today, so there is no added administrative cost and no delay in reporting results.

Nothing new to learn. Groups settle questions this way millions of times a day, all over the world. Whenever a group has more than two options, people naturally say which ones work for them, and the option with the broadest support wins. The act brings that ordinary logic to the primary ballot.

Approval voting has already been used in public elections in Fargo, North Dakota, and in St. Louis, Missouri, where voters adopted it in 2020 and have used it for municipal primaries since 2021. Before adopting approval voting in St. Louis, mayoral candidates advanced from the primary with just 32%, after 57% and 68%.

“Too many voters abandon candidates they actually like because they don’t think enough other people will support them, and that fear becomes the reason those candidates never get the support they need. Approval voting breaks that cycle,” said Amanda Mahlendorf, proponent of the act. “When you can vote for everyone you’re excited about, campaigns can be about who’s actually earning support instead of just who’s assumed to be electable. That doesn’t just change who advances on election night, it can change who’s willing to run in the first place.”

What happens next

Following the 30-day public review period, the Department of Finance and the Legislative Analyst's Office jointly prepare a fiscal estimate within 50 days of the Attorney General's receipt of the measure. The Attorney General then issues the official circulating title and summary within 15 days of receiving that estimate. That date — the official summary date — starts a 180-day window for proponents to gather and file voter signatures. California Approves is targeting the November 2028 statewide general election ballot.

Californians who want to be notified when the official petition is ready to sign can add their name at californiaapproves.org/our-reforms/approval-primary.

Thank you to all the volunteers who made this initiative possible.

About California Approves

California Approves is a grassroots organization working to improve democracy, reduce political polarization, and make progress on the things Californians can agree on. It advances approval voting in California through ballot measures at the state and local level.