Sanders backers, independents sue to extend registration in state

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders speaks to the crowd during a rally at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in San Jose, CA Wednesday, May 18th, 2016. Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders speaks to the crowd during a rally at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in San Jose, CA Wednesday, May 18th, 2016. Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 44 Caption Close Sanders backers, independents sue to extend registration in state 1 / 44 Back to Gallery

A group of Bernie Sanders supporters and independent voters has filed a federal lawsuit demanding changes in the state’s election system, saying it has shut out people who don’t identify as Republicans or Democrats.

The plaintiffs, who filed their complaint Friday against the head of the San Francisco Department of Elections, the head of the Alameda County Registrar of Voters, and Secretary of State Alex Padilla, seek a litany of reforms — among them an order to extend the state’s voter registration deadline from Monday to June 7, the day of the primary election.

“The most important thing at the end of the day is to enable more people to vote,” said William Simpich, an Oakland attorney representing the individuals and groups who filed the lawsuits. They include the Voting Rights Defense Project, the American Independent Party, Clara Daims and Suzanne Bushnell.

Getting more people out to the polls would boost the odds for Bernie Sanders, who has broad support among nonpartisan or independent voters, Simpich said.

In California, independent voters can’t vote in Republican primaries, but they can in Democratic primaries. To do so, however, they have to request a Democratic ballot at their polling place. Independents who vote by mail have to sign a form and mail it to their county registrar by May 31.

The problem, according to Simpich, is that many independents don’t know they have to do that, and they wind up with an independent ballot that offers few choices. The result is that many California independents don’t cast a primary vote for president.

To address the problem, the lawsuit demands that independent voters be given the opportunity to write in the candidates of their choice.

Alternatively, the lawsuit asks that the state isolate all independent ballots already cast by mail and allow those voters to revote.

Paul Mitchell is co-founder of the Los Angeles voter analytics firm Political Data Inc. and not part of the group suing. He said the lawsuit’s basic argument is valid: Although the Democrats have let independents vote for Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton, the rules are confusing.

“The Democratic (primary) was sold to voters as an open primary, but it hasn’t been as open as everybody said,” Mitchell said. “It’s more like a closed primary with an option for people to get into it.”

According to Mitchell, the number of independents who vote by mail in California has more than tripled since 2008, from about 700,000 to more than 2.1 million.

But Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said the lawsuit seems like a political strategy aimed at getting more delegates for Bernie Sanders.

“It’s the end of the primary, Bernie Sanders is becoming increasingly aggressive in his tactics, and polls indicate that ‘no party preference’ voters are supporting him,” Levinson said.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com @RachelSwan