Title ELEC, California Elec. Code

For the purposes of this division, a “local officer” is an elective officer of a city, county, school district, community college district, or special district, or a judge of a superior court. (Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 304, Sec. 7. (AB 1513) Effective January 1, 2026.)

The proponents of a recall must be registered voters of the electoral jurisdiction of the officer they seek to recall. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

Proceedings may be commenced for the recall of any elective officer, including any officer appointed in lieu of election or to fill a vacancy, by the service, filing and publication or posting of a notice of intention to circulate a recall petition pursuant to this chapter. (Enac…

Except when a person has been appointed to office pursuant to Section 10229 because no person had been nominated to office, proceedings may not be commenced against an officer of a city, county, special district, school district, community college district, or county board of edu…

(a) Every person who qualifies under Section 2 of Article II of the California Constitution and who complies with this code governing the registration of electors may vote at any election held within the territory within which he or she resides and the election is held. (b) Any p…

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Alquist Open Presidential Primary Act.” (Added by renumbering Section 6000a by Stats. 2019, Ch. 149, Sec. 3. (SB 505) Effective July 30, 2019.)

This chapter applies to the Democratic Party. (Added by renumbering Section 6001 by Stats. 2019, Ch. 149, Sec. 4. (SB 505) Effective July 30, 2019.)

(a) This chapter applies both to the selection of delegates and alternates pledged to the candidacy of a particular candidate and to the selection of delegates and alternates not expressing a preference for a particular candidate. (b) Except as otherwise specified in this chapter…

Participation in the delegate selection process in primaries shall be restricted to voters whose affidavits of registration declare the Democratic Party as their party affiliation and any other voter authorized under subdivision (c) of Section 13102. (Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. …

This chapter does not apply to: (a) Recall elections. (b) Presidential primary. (c) Nomination of officers of cities or counties whose charters provide a system for nominating candidates for those offices. (d) Nomination of officers for any district not formed for municipal purpo…

(a) A declaration of candidacy for membership on a county central committee shall not be filed by a candidate unless (1) at the time of presentation of the declaration and continuously for not less than three months immediately prior to that time, or for as long as the candidate …

If a candidate is a candidate for a nonpartisan office, all reference to party affiliation shall be omitted on all forms required to be filed. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

(a) A candidate for a voter-nominated office shall indicate one of the following upon their declaration of candidacy, which shall be consistent with what appears on the candidate’s most recent affidavit of registration: (1) “Party Preference: ______ (insert the name of the qualif…

(a) (1) A person shall not file nomination papers for more than one office at the same primary election. (2) For purposes of paragraph (1), “office” does not include the position of member of a political party’s county central committee. (b) If a person has filed nomination paper…

(a) In the event that no candidate files for a party’s nomination for any partisan office that would appear on the ballot in a county or a political subdivision within that county, the elections official shall do both of the following: (1) Refrain from printing a partisan ballot …

In addition to satisfying the requirements of Sections 9083.5, 9084.5, and 14105.1, the Secretary of State shall conduct public voter education campaigns, using existing resources, for the purpose of publicly disseminating information regarding the roles of the parties in primary…

This article applies only to initiative and referendum measures affecting the Constitution or laws of the state. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

(a) Before the circulation of an initiative or referendum petition for signatures, the text of the proposed measure shall be submitted to the Attorney General with a written request that a circulating title and summary of the chief purpose and points of the proposed measure be pr…

(a) Upon receipt of a request from the proponents of a proposed initiative measure for a circulating title and summary, the Attorney General shall initiate a public review process for a period of 30 days by doing all of the following: (1) Posting the text of the proposed initiati…

In the event that the Attorney General is a proponent of a proposed measure, the circulating title and summary of the chief purpose and points of the proposed measure, including an estimate or opinion on the financial impact of the measure, shall be prepared by the Legislative Co…

(a) Upon receipt of the text of a proposed initiative measure, and after the public review period provided for in Section 9002, the Attorney General shall prepare a circulating title and summary of the chief purposes and points of the proposed measure. The circulating title and s…

(a) The Attorney General, in preparing a circulating title and summary for a proposed initiative measure, shall, in boldface print, include in the circulating title and summary either the estimate of the amount of any increase or decrease in revenues or costs to the state or loca…

(a) Upon receipt of the text of a proposed referendum, the Attorney General shall prepare a circulating title and summary of the chief purpose and points of the proposed statute at issue. The circulating title and summary shall not exceed a total of 100 words. No fiscal analysis …

Immediately upon the preparation of the circulating title and summary of a proposed initiative or referendum measure, the Attorney General shall forthwith transmit copies of the text of the measure and the circulating title and summary to the Senate and the Assembly. The appropri…

Every proposed initiative measure, prior to circulation, shall have placed across the top of the petition in 11-point or larger roman type, all of the following: (a) The Attorney General’s unique numeric identifier placed before the circulating title and summary upon each page wh…

The heading of an initiative petition shall be in substantially the following form: Initiative Measure to Be Submitted Directly to the Voters The Attorney General of California has prepared the following circulating title and summary of the chief purpose and points of the propose…

Across the top of each page of a referendum petition, there shall be printed in 12-point boldface type the following: “Referendum Against an Act Passed by the Legislature.” (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

Across the top of each page after the first page of every referendum petition or section of a referendum petition, which is prepared and circulated, there shall be printed in 18-point gothic type a short title, in 20 words or less, showing the nature of the petition and the subje…

Any petition for a proposed initiative measure or referendum may be presented in sections, but each section shall contain a full and correct copy of the circulating title and summary and text of the proposed measure. The text of the proposed measure shall be printed in type not s…

A space at least one inch wide shall be left blank across the top of each page of every initiative and referendum petition and after the name of each voter who has signed the petition for the use of the county elections official in verifying the petition. (Repealed and added by S…

(a) A petition for a proposed initiative or referendum measure shall not be circulated for signatures prior to the official summary date. (b) Subject to subdivision (d), a petition with signatures for a proposed initiative measure shall be filed with the county elections official…

Officers required by law to receive or file in their offices any initiative or referendum petition shall not receive or file any initiative or referendum petition not in conformity with this article. (Repealed and added by Stats. 2009, Ch. 373, Sec. 25. (AB 753) Effective January…

(a) Notwithstanding Section 324, for purposes of subdivision (c) of Section 8 of, and subdivision (c) of Section 9 of, Article II of the California Constitution, “general election” means only the election held throughout the state on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in No…

If, for any reason, any initiative or referendum measure proposed by petition as provided by this article is not submitted to the voters at the next succeeding statewide election, that failure shall not prevent its submission at a succeeding statewide election. (Added by Stats. 2…

The Secretary of State shall prepare and provide to any person, upon request, a pamphlet describing the procedures and requirements for preparing and circulating a statewide initiative measure and for filing sections of the petition, and describing the procedure used in determini…

(a) The notice of intention shall contain all of the following: (1) The name and title of the officer sought to be recalled. (2) A statement, not exceeding 200 words in length, of the reasons for the proposed recall. (3) The printed name, signature, and residence address, includi…

A copy of the notice of intention shall be served by personal delivery, or by certified mail, on the officer sought to be recalled. Within seven days of serving the notice of intention, the original thereof shall be filed, along with an affidavit of the time and manner of service…

A copy of the notice, except the provisions required by paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 11020, shall be published at the proponents’ expense pursuant to Section 6061 of the Government Code. Publication shall be required unless there is no newspaper of general circulat…

(a) Within seven days after the filing of the notice of intention, the officer sought to be recalled may file with the elections official, or in the case of a state officer, the Secretary of State, an answer, in not more than 200 words, to the statement of the proponents. (b) If …

(a) The statement and answer are intended solely for the information of the voters. No insufficiency in form or substance thereof shall affect the validity of the election proceedings. (b) This section shall not be deemed to make the statement and answer, or the authors of the st…

The term of domicile is computed by including the day on which the person’s domicile commenced and by excluding the day of the election. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

(a) A person who leaves his or her home to go into another state or precinct in this state for temporary purposes merely, with the intention of returning, does not lose his or her domicile. (b) A person does not gain a domicile in any precinct into which he or she comes for tempo…

If a person moves to another state with the intention of making it his or her domicile, the voter loses his or her domicile in this state. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

If a person moves to another state as a place of permanent residence, with the intention of remaining there for an indefinite time, he or she loses his or her domicile in this state, notwithstanding that he or she intends to return at some future time. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch…

The mere intention to acquire a new domicile, without the fact of removal avails nothing, neither does the fact of removal without the intention. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

A person does not gain or lose a domicile solely by reason of his or her presence or absence from a place while employed in the service of the United States or of this state, nor while engaged in navigation, nor while a student of any institution of learning, nor while kept in an…