‘California Model’: Unusual Election Reform Divides Democrats in Deep Blue State
20th October 2026
Ballot measures allowing same-day voter registration and scrapping party primaries could make it easier for establishment Democrats to keep power in deep-blue Massachusetts.
Voters are considering the two measures this fall. Election integrity experts have long been suspicious of Election Day voter registration, as it could flood election clerks with new registrants they can’t possibly verify at the last minute.
“The reason the Left wants it is because it fits their turnout model, just as they don’t want rules on ballot harvesting, to get out the vote, and win,” Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project, told the Daily Signal.
“This would just invite massive cheating,” Ken Cuccinelli, chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative, told the Daily Signal.
In the state, the more controversial of the two measures is the nonpartisan primary. Only a handful of states—most notably California—have nonpartisan primaries, often called “jungle primaries,” where the top two vote-getters advance to the general election.
“It’s the California model. A top-two in a blue state is tailor-made to ensure you have two left-leaning candidates in the general election,” Snead said.
Sounds tailor-made for Taxachussetts.