Capitol Alert

What is the top two primary and how does it work?

Californians voted to abolish traditional political party primaries and switch to a new top two primary system in 2010. Under the system being used today, legislative, congressional and constitutional office candidates of all political leanings, including independents who are registered without a party preference, will appear on the same primary ballot. The two candidates who receive the most votes will face off in November, regardless of their political party affiliation.

How will this affect the November ballot?

Voters in some districts could find themselves choosing between two Democrats or two Republicans in November, a dynamic supporters of the new system say could force candidates to move to the center to pick up more votes. At least one runoff statewide will include a "no party preference" candidate. Write-in votes are no longer permitted in the general election.

Can I vote for more than one candidate in the primary?

No. You can only vote for one candidate in each race.

Gov. Jerry Brown, who has limited his political activity ahead of the Tuesday primary election to a handful of candidate endorsements and non-endorsement statements of support, was featured in a robotic telephone call today in the Los Angeles County district attorney's race.

Brown has declined to take a public position on two statewide initiatives - one regarding a tobacco tax, the other term limits - because he is focused, he says, on balancing the state budget and on his November ballot initiative to raise taxes.

But in Los Angeles County, Brown likes Carmen Trutanich for district attorney. The L.A. city attorney, Brown says in the call, is "independent," "battle tested," "tough" and "fair."

Trutanich, it would seem, thinks the endorsement is a big deal. He called it "paramount" on his website, and he posted the audio of Brown's robo call right above one recorded by a former NBA star.

"Who's Carmen Trutanich?" asks Shaquille O'Neal. "He's the only man I trust to work with our kids to keep them safe at school and away from gangs."

Facebooking and Tweeting are about to become official legislative business.

Lawmakers and designated aides could post social media comments as part of their official, paid duties under a new policy approved unanimously Monday by the Assembly Rules Committee.

The policy, targeting Facebook, Twitter and other social media websites, is expected to be considered in coming weeks by the Senate Rules Committee. It does not require a floor vote.

Most lawmakers currently maintain personal or campaign pages on Facebook, but they and their aides maintain them by using private equipment in their private time. Taxpayers have not picked up the tab - but they will soon, perhaps.

The new policy does not require legislators to have their own Assembly-authorized Facebook page, but it allows them to -- and provides guidelines and restrictions for their operation.

Some details are lacking: The policy does not list criteria for deeming a comment inappropriate and deleting it, for example, saying only that the issue will be addressed by the Legislature's attorneys and Rules Committees.

Assembly administrator Jon Waldie said the 80-member house will authorize websites for members only if Facebook ensures that such pages contain no advertising. Members of Congress already have pages without ads, he said.

Senate secretary Greg Schmidt said he would like to see final details worked out before the Senate Rules Committee takes a vote.

Assemblyman Curt Hagman, a Chino Hills Republican, applauded the social media policy as recognition that times have changed and that lawmakers no longer communicate exclusively through phones and letters.

"It's everywhere now," Hagman said of Facebook and Twitter. "It's the best way to communicate with voters, and it doesn't cost any money. Those who want to listen, can."

With Wisconsin voters heading to the polls tomorrow to decide whether to give Republican Gov. Scott Walker the boot, California's own recalled governor Gray Davis is sharing his thoughts on the process.

"Did I like getting recalled? No, but in difficult times, if you are going to ask people to make difficult decisions, voters should not be surprised, particularly when candidates are candid and clear about what they are going to do when they get elected," Davis said on MSNBC today..

The former Democratic governor, who was replaced by Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 2003 recall election, said recalls, referendums and initiatives are just "part of the process" in California and other western states.

"That's always a risk you assume," he said. "If you don't like that, find some other line of work."

Davis' comments came during a segment on Proposition 29, the initiative process and whether hot-button ballot measures are used to rally voters to the polls.

"In California, we don't take the view that if we don't like what the Legislature does, we have no remedies. If anything we have too many remedies here in California," he said.

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Independent groups have spent more than $12 million to influence the outcome of tomorrow's primary contests for state legislative seats, campaign finance filings show.

The figure exceeds spending on state legislative races in the 2010 primary, when the Fair Political Practices Commission tracked more than $7 million in independent expenditures for those contests. The independent committees, which are prohibited from coordinating with the candidate's campaign, can raise and spend unlimited amounts.

Spending by outside groups has surged since voters approved contribution limits for candidate campaigns in 2000. This year's flurry of independent expenditures comes as the state readies for the first run through of a new top-two primary system, which puts candidates of all political leanings on the same primary ballot and sends the two who get the most votes to a November runoff. That process and new political district maps, which were drawn by an independent panel, resulted in more competitive races. Independent groups are already active in more than 50 of the 100 legislative races up for grabs this year.

Maybe it's just coincidence that it was proposed by a San Francisco lawmaker, maybe not, but legislation designed to ease the commute from San Francisco to the Capitol easily cleared the Assembly recently.

Assemblywoman Fiona Ma will be termed out in December, so she would not personally benefit from her proposal, Assembly Bill 2200.

The measure is designed to chop precious minutes from morning and evening rush-hour commutes in one direction - eastbound on Interstate 80 in the morning and westbound in the evening, from the Bay Bridge to the Carquinez Bridge.

Specifically, AB 2200 would suspend carpool lanes in that "reverse commute direction" during times that the lanes currently are operational, from 5 am. to 9 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays.

Ma contends that the carpool lanes, requiring three or more persons per vehicle, are underutilized in that direction and that suspending them could ease traffic in other lanes. Her bill would expire in January 2020.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee estimates that AB 2200 would cost about $180,000 to change 75 ground signs and six overhead signs.

The measure cleared the Assembly, 52-16 last week.

Both San Francisco Assembly members - Democrats Ma and Tom Ammiano - voted yes.

Nancy McFadden, a senior adviser to Gov. Jerry Brown, could be found the other day pushing herself around the governor's office on a knee scooter, green with a basket up front.

McFadden broke her left foot May 10 - hobbled, she said, by "a vestige of the smoking tent."

The tent, in the courtyard in which former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger famously smoked cigars, was folded up when Schwarzenegger left office, but steel stakes that fastened it to the ground remained.

McFadden, who turned her foot on one, was back to work right after the accident, fitted with a boot and cast. Welders removed the stakes from the ground the next day.

The scooter is a more recent development, acquired to appease a doctor who felt McFadden kept walking too much.

She said her foot still hurts, but she holds no animosity for the prior administration. Scooting has its perks.

"I can get around the office," McFadden said, "faster than I can walking."

McFadden then demonstrated her abilities, starting from her desk and ending up outside the press office, around the corner and down the hall. Gil Duran, the press secretary who sometimes rides a bike, is not the only one, McFadden said, with "fancy wheels."

Dan Walters explains how California rebel judges caught a "big break" recently that could help them get a proposal through the Legislature.

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See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

VIDEO: Dan Walters explains in his latest video report why a recent development might give California rebel judges a boost in the Legislature.

It's T minus one day for Tuesday's presidential primary, and Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo will be on hand today to answer questions about the latest polls on voters' views of election-related issues. Come back to sacbee.com/live from noon to 1 p.m. for that live chat, and bring your questions.

With standard bearers already chosen for both Democrats and Republicans, it doesn't look likely that turnout will hit the level it did in 2008, when nearly 58 percent of California's registered voters cast a ballot in the presidential primary.

Even so, the state counts 1 million more registered voters than it did four years ago. More than 17.1 million California residents are now registered to vote, according to figures that the Secretary of State's Office released last Friday.

A few things haven't changed in four years. Alameda still takes the top spot as the county with the highest percentage of Democratic voters (56 percent). Modoc County still is No. 1 in Republican voters (50 percent). And San Francisco County still has the highest percentage of "no-party-preference" voters (almost 31 percent).

Meanwhile, the statewide voter share has barely changed since April, with Democrats still at 43 percent, Republicans at 30 percent, and "no-party-preference" voters at 21 percent. Click here to read historical data based on the official 15-day report of registration dated May 21. You'll find the May 2008 data at this link.

Under the dome, the Assembly has set its floor session for noon. The Senate meets at 2 p.m. The Legislature's next deadline, of course, is June 15 -- the budget bill must be passed by midnight.

CAPITOL STEPS: The California Center for Cooperative Development is sponsoring a Coop Day at the Capitol starting at 10 a.m. on the west steps. Republican candidate John Thomas Flynn, who's running in the 8th Assembly District, will be on the south steps at noon to address a rally opposing Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to make the state Technology Agency a department under the new Government Operations Agency. And from 2 to 4:30 p.m., a rally on the south steps welcomes bicyclists from Push America on their way to Washington, D.C., to raise funds for the developmentally disabled.

WEBSITE: Assembly Republicans have launched a new website, www.CAFactCheck.com, giving their take on state policies.