Title ELEC, California Elec. Code

The petition shall be filed by the proponents or by a person or persons authorized in writing by the proponents. All sections of the petition shall be filed at one time. Once filed, a petition section shall not be amended except by order of a court of competent jurisdiction. When…

After the petition has been filed, as herein provided, the elections official shall examine the petition in the same manner as are county petitions in accordance with Sections 9114 and 9115, except that for the purposes of this section, references to the board of supervisors shal…

(a) During the circulation of the petition, or before taking either action described in subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 9215, the legislative body may refer the proposed initiative measure to a city agency or agencies for a report on any or all of the following: (1) Its fisca…

On or before April 1 of each odd-numbered year, the elections official of each legislative body shall file a report with the Secretary of State containing the following information: (a) The number of municipal initiative petitions circulated during the preceding two calendar year…

If the initiative petition is signed by not less than 10 percent of the voters of the city, according to the last report of registration by the county elections official to the Secretary of State pursuant to Section 2187, effective at the time the notice specified in Section 9202…

The proponent of an initiative may withdraw the initiative at any time before the 88th day before the election, whether or not the petition has already been found sufficient by the elections official. (Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 155, Sec. 2. (SB 1153) Effective January 1, 2019.)

In cities having a mayor, or like officer, with the veto power, when the passage of an ordinance petitioned for by the voters is vetoed, the failure of the legislative body to pass the ordinance over the veto shall be deemed a refusal of the legislative body to pass the ordinance…

If a majority of the voters voting on a proposed ordinance vote in its favor, the ordinance shall become a valid and binding ordinance of the city. The ordinance shall be considered as adopted upon the date that the vote is declared by the legislative body, and shall go into effe…

Any number of proposed ordinances may be voted upon at the same election, but the same subject matter shall not be voted upon twice within any 12-month period at a special election under the provisions of this article. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

If the provisions of two or more ordinances adopted at the same election conflict, the ordinance receiving the highest number of affirmative votes shall control. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

The legislative body of the city may submit to the voters, without a petition therefor, a proposition for the repeal, amendment, or enactment of any ordinance, to be voted upon at any succeeding regular or special city election, and if the proposition submitted receives a majorit…

Whenever any ordinance or measure is required by this article to be submitted to the voters of a city at any election, the elections official of the legislative body shall cause the ordinance or measure to be printed. A copy of the ordinance or measure shall be made available to …

The enacting clause of an ordinance submitted to the voters of a city shall be substantially in the following form: “The people of the City of ________ do ordain as follows:”. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

This article does not apply to any statewide initiative measure. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

(a) A recall petition shall be submitted to the elections official for filing in his or her office during normal office hours as posted within the following number of days after the clerk or, in the case of a recall of a state officer, the Secretary of State, notifies the propone…

The number of qualified signatures required in order to qualify a recall for the ballot shall be as follows: (a) In the case of an officer of a city, county, school district, community college district, county board of education, or resident voting district, but not including a j…

(a) The petition shall be filed by the proponents, or by any person or persons authorized, in writing, by a proponent. All sections of the petition shall be filed at the same time. (b) When the petition is presented for filing, the elections official shall determine the total num…

If the petition was circulated in more than one county, the elections official of each county shall affix, with the certificate showing the results of his or her examination, the number of registered voters of the county residing within the electoral jurisdiction of the officer s…

(a) Except as provided in Section 11225, within 30 days from the date of filing of the petition, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, the elections official shall examine the petition, and from the records of registration, ascertain whether or not the petition is signed by…

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), within 60 days from the date of filing of the petition, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, if, from the examination of petitions pursuant to Section 11222, more than 500 signatures have been signed on the petition, the elections…

If the certificate shows that the petition is insufficient, no action shall be taken on it, but the petition shall remain on file. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

If the elections official finds the signatures on the petition to be sufficient, he or she shall submit his or her certificate as to the sufficiency of the petition to the governing body at its next regular meeting. The certificate shall contain: (a) The name of the officer whose…

The elections official shall divide the jurisdiction into precincts and prepare detail maps or exterior descriptions thereof, or both, and as many copies as the elections official may determine. The county surveyor, if requested by an elections official, shall provide assistance …

In any order establishing precincts, their boundaries shall be defined by reference to exterior descriptions or delineation thereof on a map or maps. (Repealed and added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 725, Sec. 6. Effective January 1, 1997.)

(a) No precinct shall be established so that its boundary crosses the boundary of any supervisorial district, congressional district, senatorial district, Assembly district, board of equalization district, judicial district, incorporated city, ward, or city council district. (b) …

(a) Whenever a jurisdiction is divided into election precincts or whenever the boundary of an established precinct is changed or a new precinct is created, the precinct boundary shall be fixed in a manner so that the number of voters in the precinct does not exceed 1,000 on the 8…

(a) At the discretion of the elections official, the voters of the precinct may be divided into two or more groups, as nearly equal as possible, and one precinct board appointed to serve each group. When the voters of a precinct are so divided, there may be one or more polling pl…

Whenever a precinct is entirely owned or controlled by the United States, and no permission is granted by the federal authorities for the establishment of precinct boards and polling places, precinct boards need not be appointed nor polling places designated, but in lieu thereof …

(a) If the county elections official determines that, due to the number of candidates and measures that must be printed on the ballot, the ballot will be larger than may be conveniently handled, the county elections official may provide that a nonpartisan ballot shall be given to…

If the elections official of any county finds it necessary in connection with the use of any approved method of vote counting, the elections official may provide for any of the following changes in the format of ballots in one or more precincts at any election: (a) Ballots may be…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the purpose of conducting the Democratic Party Presidential Primary Election, the Secretary of State may, if it is reasonably necessary to accommodate the limitations of a voter system or vote tabulating device, authorize the county…

In a municipal election, if the number of candidates for an office is such that all of the names will not fit in one column of reasonable length, a double column may be used, and all of the following provisions shall apply: (a) The space between the two halves of the double colum…

The members of each precinct board shall distribute the duties devolving upon the precinct board, which are in addition to their individual duties, in a manner they deem most advantageous. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

The polling places shall be arranged so that neither the ballot containers nor the voting booths or compartments shall be hidden from the view of those present. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

The polls shall be open at 7 a.m. of the day of any election, and shall be kept open until 8 p.m. of the same day, when the polls shall be closed, except as provided in Sections 4005 and 14401. (Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 479, Sec. 10. (AB 1762) Effective January 1, 2024.)

Before the precinct board receives any ballots, it shall proclaim aloud at the place of election that the polls are open. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

Voting shall commence as soon as the polls are opened and shall be continued during the time the polls remain open. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

Before receiving any ballots, the precinct board, in the presence of any persons assembled at the polling place, shall open and exhibit and close the ballot container or containers. Thereafter, the ballot container or containers shall not be removed from the polling place or pres…

(a) Any person desiring to vote shall state or provide his or her name and address and, upon the precinct officers finding the name in the roster, the voter shall then sign his or her name in the space provided or, if the voter is unable to sign, shall have his or her name signed…

If the precinct board is unable to find a voter’s name upon the roster, it shall inform the voter that he or she may cast a provisional ballot and the procedure for doing so. If the voter elects to cast a provisional ballot, the precinct board shall furnish the voter with a provi…

If the surname of any person offering to vote has been changed since the person has registered, the person shall sign his or her name as it was before the change and also the appropriate name as it is at the time the person votes, indicating on the roster on the same line by brac…

The precinct board shall provide, upon request, to a voter for use in the voting booth or compartment, a copy of the facsimile ballot containing ballot measures and instructions printed in Spanish or in other languages, as required by Section 14201, unless county voter informatio…

At any election, a majority of the members of any precinct board shall be present at the polling place at all times while the polling place is open. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

Only voters engaged in receiving, preparing, or depositing their ballots and persons authorized by the precinct board to keep order and enforce the law may be permitted to be within the voting booth area before the closing of the polls. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

Nothing contained in this code shall prevent a voter from being accompanied by a child or children under the age of 18 years while the voter is within the voting booth area if the child is, or children are, under the voter’s care. (Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 104, Sec. 1. Effecti…

(a) Only members of the precinct board, and persons while signing their names on the roster, shall be permitted, during the hours within which voting is in progress, to sit at the desk or table used by the precinct board. (b) Any person may inspect the roster while voting is in p…