Essential Politics: Calling for change to ‘inexcusable nonsense’

I’m Christina Bellantoni, and this is Essential Politics.

SKELTON: CHANGE VOTER REGISTRATION CARDS

George Skelton uses his Thursday column to call out public officials who, he says, have allowed California’s voter registration card to be confusing enough that many thousands of voters have mistakenly registered in the American Independent Party instead of as “independents.”

He says the state should return to the question that was asked on the voter registration card eight years ago, before it was clumsily altered. Back then it was simply: “Do you want to register with a political party?”

What’s more he calls on the Legislature to pass a law banning the word “Independent” from the name of a political party. “The word is disingenuous because it conveys a false meaning.”

Skelton’s take after reading our big Sunday project: “Get rid of this inexcusable nonsense.”

PRESIDENTIAL RACE LIGHTNING ROUND

Mark Z. Barabak and Michael Finnegan tee up the exact state of the race on the Republican side with seven weeks to go in the primary season, writing:

Donald Trump must capture about 55% to 60% of the remaining delegates for a first-ballot victory at the convention in Cleveland — a formidable but not impossible task.

The Republican front-runner is likely to substantially add to his delegate total next week, when five politically friendly states hold their primaries. He stands a good chance to win them all and most of the 172 delegates at stake.

But after Tuesday, a major test looms May 3 in Indiana, the closest thing left on the primary calendar to a pure toss-up. Even if Trump does well there, he will still need a strong performance in California on June 7, the final day of the Republican primary season, to win the nomination before delegates gather in Cleveland six weeks later.

“We’re heading to a contested convention,” Sen. Ted Cruz declared Wednesday.

Melanie Mason takes you to a palm-tree-studded beach resort in Florida, where a GOP confab comes at an especially delicate time for the Republican National Committee.

She also dives into the minor snafus and interpersonal squabbling of local and state political parties that would barely get noticed beyond their own insular circles in a normal year. But this is 2016, and as the Republican presidential race careens toward a possible contested convention, with every delegate vote potentially crucial, the unpolished operations of smaller party groups have been thrust into an unforgiving spotlight.

Cathleen Decker sees Trump and Hillary Clinton turning to winning over constituencies that have yet to warm to them, even as they haven’t wrapped up their party nominations.

In Philadelphia Wednesday, Clinton talked about police conduct with Sandra Bland’s mother at her side.

As always, keep an eye on Trail Guide and follow @latimespolitics for the latest from the trail and track the delegate race in real time.

JERRY BROWN: OAKLANDER, NO MORE

Gov. Jerry Brown has lived in several California cities. His father was district attorney in San Francisco; he first held office in Los Angeles; and so on. But no city seemed to symbolize Brown’s current politics more than Oakland, where he was mayor from 1999 until 2007.

Now, he’s packing his bags.

The governor and First Lady Anne Gust Brown are selling their Oakland Hills home. And, as John Myers reports, they are making the historic governor’s mansion their full-time abode. The asking price for the Zen-styled home overlooking San Francisco Bay: almost $2.6 million.

TAKING ISSUE WITH MOMENTS OF SILENCE

California Democrats are leading an effort to change the U.S. House’s rules so that any time Congress stands for a moment of silence, it also has to hold a hearing on the tragedy that is being recognized.

Rep. Tony Cardenas told Sarah Wire that while the moments are respectful, they are deafening, because they aren’t followed by action. “I don’t think anybody elected anyone to Congress to solely feel for them; they elected us to represent them and to take actions,” he said.

ENVIRO-FRIENDLY?

A mailer sent out in support of Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown (D-San Bernardino) is touting her environmental credentials. But some environmentalists disagree, saying the mail piece “intentionally misrepresents” Brown’s stance on environmental issues.

The mailer, sent out by a Chevron-bankrolled independent expenditure committee, references the California Environmental Justice Alliance, which released a statement saying it “did not work” with Brown on any of its priority environmental bills and has not endorsed her.

In a statement, the committee, Keeping Californians Working, praised Brown’s “passionate advocacy for clean water and environmental protection,” and said Brown is “100% accurately depicted” in the mailers.

TODAY’S ESSENTIALS

— Eric Garcetti’s budget puts homeless issues front-and-center.

— Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) called upon President Obama to recognize the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks from 1915 to 1923 as an act of genocide. He made the plea Wednesday on the House floor, arguing the case as he has for many years. He added this time that the April 24 anniversary of the killings marks the “last opportunity” to move President Obama to act.

— A bill to allow police officers to review their body camera footage before they write their reports — a big debate in the Capitol in recent years — advanced out of a legislative committee Wednesday.

— Brown signed legislation funding $176.6 million for cleanup of contamination in the neighborhood near the Exide Technologies battery recycling plant in Vernon.

— Tougher gas storage rules inspired by California’s Aliso Canyon storage facility leak would be required under a bill approved unanimously by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday.

— It’s a busy week in Sacramento. Our Essential Politics news feed is tracking the most important issues.

— The NeverTrump movement has a voter guide for the upcoming primaries.

— Harriet Tubman is the new face on the $20 bill, and women also will grace the $5 and the $10 — on the back.

— What do you think of Trump? Readers can weigh in with our quick survey.

LOGISTICS

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