Title ELEC, California Elec. Code

This article applies to all elections in which ballots are counted by hand. (Repealed and added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 1073, Sec. 27. Effective January 1, 1999.)

(a) An elections official shall not conduct a manual vote count pursuant to this article or Article 6 (commencing with Section 15290) in any election unless that manual count is conducted pursuant to a plan approved by the Secretary of State. A manual count plan shall be consiste…

The Secretary of State shall adopt regulations regarding manual vote counts. (Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 300, Sec. 2. (AB 969) Effective October 4, 2023.)

Notwithstanding Section 15270.1 or subdivision (a) of Section 19207.5, an elections official may conduct a manual vote count in the event of a natural disaster or other state of emergency in which use of a certified voting system is not feasible. (Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 300, S…

As soon as the polls are finally closed, the precinct board shall commence to count the votes by taking the ballots cast, unopened, out of the box and counting them to ascertain whether the number of ballots corresponds with the number of signatures on the roster. The precinct bo…

The count shall be public and shall be continued without adjournment until completed and the result is declared. During the reading and tallying, the ballot read and the tally sheet kept shall be within the clear view of watchers. (Repealed and added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 1073, Sec…

Unless otherwise provided in this code, the precinct board members may not constitute themselves into separate squads in an attempt to conduct more than one count of the ballots at the same time. (Repealed and added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 1073, Sec. 27. Effective January 1, 1999.)

The members of the precinct board may relieve each other in the duties of counting ballots. (Repealed and added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 1073, Sec. 27. Effective January 1, 1999.)

Those ballots not rejected shall be placed in one pile, and the board shall proceed to count by tallying the vote for one or more offices or measures at a time. (Repealed and added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 1073, Sec. 27. Effective January 1, 1999.)

The precinct board members shall ascertain the number of votes cast for each person and for and against each measure in the following manner: One precinct board member shall read from the ballots. As the ballots are read, at least one other precinct board member shall keep watch …

(a) Two of the precinct board members shall each keep a tally sheet in a form prescribed by the elections official. Each tally sheet shall contain all of the following: (1) The name of each candidate being voted for and the specific office for which each candidate is being voted.…

On completion of the canvass of the returns for each election, the elections official shall compare the vote by mail voters’ list with the roster for each precinct to determine if any voter cast more than one ballot at that election. (Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 806, Sec. 76. (SB…

No precinct board member may make any tally of votes in any other manner than is provided in this article, nor in any place other than on the tally sheets provided for that purpose. (Added by renumbering Section 15278 (as added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 1073) by Stats. 2002, Ch. 344, S…

The ballots, as soon as all of the names and measures marked on them as voted for are read and tallied, shall not thereafter be examined by any person, but, as soon as all are counted, shall be carefully sealed in a strong envelope. The signatures of each member of the precinct b…

The precinct board shall complete, sign, and return to the elections official all furnished forms requiring its signatures. When votes are counted at the precinct, all members of the precinct board, upon the completion of their duties, shall sign the following certificate of perf…

The precinct board shall sign and post conspicuously on the outside of the polling place a copy of the result of the votes cast. The copy shall remain posted for at least 48 hours after the official time fixed for the closing of the polls. To protect a person’s right to cast a se…

This article shall be known and may be cited as the Voting Modernization Bond Act of 2002 (Shelley-Hertzberg Act). (Added by renumbering Section 19230 by Stats. 2013, Ch. 602, Sec. 48. (SB 360) Effective January 1, 2014. Note: This section (as originally numbered) was added by St…

The State General Obligation Bond Law (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 16720) of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code), except as otherwise provided herein, is adopted for the purpose of the issuance, sale, and repayment of, and otherwise providing with respe…

As used in this article: (a) “Board” means the Voting Modernization Board, established pursuant to Section 19256. (b) “Bond” means a state general obligation bond issued pursuant to this article adopting the provisions of the State General Obligation Bond Law. (c) “Bond act” mean…

(a) The Voting Modernization Finance Committee is hereby established for the purpose of authorizing the issuance and sale, pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law, of the bonds authorized by this article. (b) The committee consists of the Controller, the Director of Fin…

(a) The committee may create a debt or debts, liability or liabilities, of the state, in the aggregate amount of not more than one hundred eighty-nine million five hundred seventy thousand dollars ($189,570,000), excluding refunding bonds, in the manner provided herein for the pu…

The Legislature may amend subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 19254 and Section 19256 by a statute, passed in each house of the Legislature by rollcall vote entered in the respective journals, by not less than two-thirds of the membership in each house concurring, if the statute …

The Voting Modernization Board is hereby established and designated the “board” for purposes of the State General Obligation Bond Law, and for purposes of administering the Voting Modernization Fund. The board consists of five members, three selected by the Governor and two selec…

(a) All bonds authorized by this article, when duly sold and delivered as provided herein, constitute valid and legally binding general obligations of the State of California, and the full faith and credit of the state is hereby pledged for the punctual payment of both principal …

Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, there is hereby continuously appropriated from the General Fund, for purposes of this article, a sum of money that will equal both of the following: (a) That sum annually necessary to pay the principal of, and the interest on,…

For purposes of this article, the Director of Finance may, by executive order, authorize the withdrawal from the General Fund of a sum of money not to exceed the amount of the unsold bonds that have been authorized by the committee to be sold pursuant to this article. Any sums wi…

The board may request the Pooled Money Investment Board to make a loan from the Pooled Money Investment Account, in accordance with Section 16312 of the Government Code, for the purpose of carrying out this article. The amount of the request shall not exceed the amount of unsold …

Upon request of the board, supported by a statement of its plans and projects approved by the Governor, the committee shall determine whether to issue any bonds authorized under this article in order to carry out the board’s plans and projects and, if so, the amount of bonds to b…

(a) The committee may authorize the Treasurer to sell all or any part of the bonds authorized by this article at the time or times established by the Treasurer. (b) Whenever the committee deems it necessary for an effective sale of the bonds, the committee may authorize the Treas…

Out of the first money realized from the sale of bonds as provided by this article, there shall be redeposited in the General Obligation Bond Expense Revolving Fund, established by Section 16724.5 of the Government Code, the amount of all expenditures made for purposes specified …

Any bonds issued and sold pursuant to this article may be refunded in accordance with Article 6 (commencing with Section 16780) of Chapter 4 of Part 3 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Government Code. The approval of the voters for the issuance of bonds under this article includes…

Notwithstanding any provision of the bond act, if the Treasurer sells bonds under this article for which bond counsel has issued an opinion to the effect that the interest on the bonds is excludable from gross income for purposes of federal income tax, subject to any conditions w…

The Legislature hereby finds and declares that, inasmuch as the proceeds from the sale of bonds authorized by this article are not “proceeds of taxes” as that term is used in Article XIII B of the California Constitution, the disbursement of these proceeds is not subject to the l…

This article applies to the nomination of a candidate for the presidential preference portion of the primary ballot, to the nomination of a slate of delegates pledged to the candidacy of a particular candidate, and to the nomination of a slate of delegates not expressing a prefer…

Nomination papers properly prepared, circulated, signed, and verified shall be left for examination with the elections official of the county in which they are circulated at least 81 days prior to the presidential primary. (Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 370, Sec. 110. (SB 1371) Eff…

Each signer of a nomination paper for the presidential primary ballot may sign only one paper. He or she shall declare his or her intention to support the presidential preference candidate or the group of candidates for delegates, add his or her place of residence, and give his o…

Any nomination paper may be presented in sections. Each section shall contain the name of the presidential preference candidate, or the names of the candidates for delegates comprising the group, and, if applicable, that they have expressed a preference for a named person as cand…

Each section shall be prepared with the lines for signatures numbered, and shall have attached the affidavit of the circulator who obtained signatures to it, which shall meet all of the requirements of Section 104. No other affidavit is required. (Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 278,…

A verified nomination paper is prima facie evidence that the signatures are genuine and that the persons signing it are voters, until it is otherwise proved by comparison of the signatures with the affidavits of registration in the office of the elections official. (Enacted by St…

The nomination paper for a candidate for the presidential preference portion of the ballot shall be in substantially the following form: SECTION OF NOMINATION PAPER SIGNED BY VOTER ON BEHALF OF PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE PRIMARY CANDIDATE Section ____________ Page ____________ Count…

The nomination paper for a group of candidates for delegates, to the national convention shall be in substantially the following form: SECTION OF NOMINATION PAPER SIGNED BY VOTER ON BEHALF OF GROUP OF CANDIDATES FOR DELEGATES TO NATIONAL CONVENTION Section ____________ Page _____…

Circulators may obtain signatures to the nomination paper of the candidate or group of candidates at any time not more than 120 nor less than 81 days prior to the presidential primary. (Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 149, Sec. 13. (SB 505) Effective July 30, 2019.)

An elections official or deputy elections official may not serve as a circulator and circulators may not obtain signatures within 100 feet of any election booth or polling place. (Amended by Stats. 1999, Ch. 790, Sec. 20. Effective January 1, 2000.)

Each section of a nomination paper, after being verified, shall be returned to the candidate, committee, or duly authorized representatives. All the sections circulated in any county shall be collected by the candidate, committee, or duly authorized representatives, who shall arr…

Prior to filing, the sections of a nomination paper for any candidate or group of candidates shall be numbered in order. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

Nomination papers, properly assembled, may be consolidated and fastened together by counties, but nomination papers signed by voters in different counties shall not be fastened together. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)