A group of voters is suing to keep California from holding open primaries where the top two candidates face off against each other, regardless of their party affiliation.

The suit filed Thursday in San Francisco targets the Senate law that implements Proposition 14, which passed with 54 percent of the vote in June.

“Send the ball back to the legislature and have them do it right this time,” said Gautam Dutta, a Fremont attorney representing the plaintiffs.

He agrees that California needs reform, but says Prop 14 simply isn’t what voters thought it was. Click here to listen.

The lawsuit argues that the way Prop 14 is being implemented is unconstitutional because some candidates in smaller parties cannot list their affiliation, and the general election ballot would be limited to just two candidates.

“It disenfranchises voters and makes it really hard and effectively censors candidates who come from small parties,” he said.

The suit also takes issue with a provision of the Senate bill that ignores write-in candidates.

“If you vote for a write-in candidate, your vote will not count. It will not be counted, and that is flat out illegal,” he said.

Supporters of an open primary system, including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado, say the will of voters should not be overruled by “Sacramento special interests” and “party bosses.”

Dutta called those labels laughable.

“This is a suit brought by six plaintiffs. Four are voters, registered voters, and two are political candidates,” he said.