Title ELEC, California Elec. Code

“Nonpartisan office” means an office, except for a voter-nominated office, for which no party may nominate a candidate. Judicial, school, county, and municipal offices, including the Superintendent of Public Instruction, are nonpartisan offices. (Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 3, Se…

“Oath” includes affirmation. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

The “official canvass” is the public process of processing and tallying all ballots received in an election, including, but not limited to, provisional ballots and vote by mail ballots not included in the semifinal official canvass. The official canvass also includes the process …

The “official summary date” is the date a circulating title and summary of a proposed initiative measure is delivered or mailed by the Attorney General to the proponents of the proposed measure. (Amended by Stats. 2009, Ch. 373, Sec. 3. (AB 753) Effective January 1, 2010.)

(a) “One percent manual tally” is the public process of manually tallying votes in 1 percent of the precincts, selected at random by the elections official, and in one precinct for each race not included in the randomly selected precincts. This procedure is conducted during the o…

“Out-of-state emergency worker” means a voter who is officially engaged in responding to the proclamation of an out-of-state emergency and whose vocation has been identified in an executive order relating to the state of emergency. (Added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 566, Sec. 2. (SB 362)…

“Partisan office” or “party-nominated office” means any of the following offices: (a) President of the United States, Vice President of the United States, and the delegates therefor. (b) Elected member of a party committee. (Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 296, Sec. 79. (AB 1023) Eff…

“Party” means a political party or organization that has qualified for participation in any primary or presidential general election. (Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 511, Sec. 2. (AB 1419) Effective January 1, 2014.)

“Polling place” means a location where a voter casts a ballot and includes the following terms, as applicable: poll, polling location, and vote center. A polling place can serve more than one precinct. (Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 806, Sec. 4. (SB 286) Effective January 1, 2018.)

“Precinct” means a geographical area within a county that is made up of voters and is formed pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 12200) of Division 12. All voters from the same precinct are assigned to a specific polling place for an election. In an election conducted …

(a) “Precinct board” is the board appointed by the elections official to serve at a single precinct or a consolidated precinct. In an election conducted using vote centers, “precinct board” means the board appointed by the elections official to serve at a vote center. (b) “Precin…

“Presidential primary” is the primary election that is held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March of any year that is evenly divisible by four. (Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 111, Sec. 3. (SB 970) Effective January 1, 2021.)

“Primary election” includes all primary nominating elections provided for by this code. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

“Proponent or proponents of an initiative or referendum measure” means, for statewide initiative and referendum measures, the elector or electors who submit the text of a proposed initiative or referendum to the Attorney General with a request that he or she prepare a circulating…

“Proponent or proponents of a recall petition” means the person or persons who have charge or control of the circulation of, or obtaining signatures, to such petitions. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

“Punchcard” means a tabulating card on which the voter may record his or her vote by punching, marking, or slotting. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

“Punching” includes marking a ballot card to record a vote. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

“Rebuttable presumption” shall be deemed a presumption which affects the burden of producing evidence. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

“Regular election” is an election, the specific time for the holding of which is prescribed by law. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

(a) “Residence” for voting purposes means a person’s domicile. (b) The domicile of a person is that place in which his or her habitation is fixed, wherein the person has the intention of remaining, and to which, whenever he or she is absent, the person has the intention of return…

“Roster” means the official list of voters for an election, which may be in paper or electronic form. The roster becomes the official list of voters who have voted in the election once signed by the voter or marked by the elections official. (Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 806, Sec. 7…

“School measure” means any proposition, including but not limited to, a proposal for the issuance of bonds by a school district or community college district, an increase in the maximum tax rate of a school district or community college district, or the acceptance, expenditure, a…

“School office” means the office filled by any school officer. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

“School officer” means the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the superintendent of schools of a county. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

“Section” means a section of this code unless some other statute is specifically mentioned. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

The “semifinal official canvass” is the public process of collecting, processing, and tallying ballots and, for state or statewide elections, reporting results to the Secretary of State on election night. The semifinal official canvass may include some or all of the vote by mail …

“Shall” is mandatory and “may” is permissive. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

(a) “Signature” includes either of the following: (1) A person’s mark if the name of the person affixing the mark is written near the mark by a witness over 18 years of age designated by the person and the designee subscribes his or her own name as a witness thereto. For purposes…

“Software” includes all programs, voting devices, cards, ballot cards or papers, operating manuals or instructions, test procedures, printouts, and other nonmechanical or nonelectrical items necessary to the operation of a voting system. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)…

“Special election” is an election, the specific time for the holding of which is not prescribed by law. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

“Spouse” includes “registered domestic partner,” as required by Section 297.5 of the Family Code. (Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 50, Sec. 31. (SB 1005) Effective January 1, 2017.)

“Statewide election” is an election held throughout the state. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

“Vote center” means a location established for holding elections that offers the services described in Sections 2170 and 4005. (Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 479, Sec. 2. (AB 1762) Effective January 1, 2024.)

“Vote tabulating device” means any piece of equipment, other than a voting machine, that compiles a total of votes cast by means of ballot card sorting, ballot card reading, paper ballot scanning, electronic data processing, or a combination of that type of equipment. (Enacted by…

“Voter” means any elector who is registered under this code. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

“Voter list” means the list of registered voters in a single or consolidated precinct or in an entire county. The voter list may be in the form of a walking list, street index list, or other format, as provided by the elections official. The voter list is updated by the elections…

(a) “Voter-nominated office” means a congressional or state elective office for which a candidate may choose to have his or her party preference or lack of party preference indicated upon the ballot. A political party or party central committee shall not nominate a candidate at a…

“Voting device” means any device used in conjunction with a ballot card or cards to indicate the choice of the voter by marking, punching, or slotting the ballot card. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

“Voting machine” means any electronic device, including, but not limited to, a precinct optical scanner and a direct recording voting system, into which a voter may enter his or her votes, and which, by means of electronic tabulation and generation of printouts or other tangible,…

“Voting system” means a mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic system and its software, or any combination of these used for casting a ballot, tabulating votes, or both. “Voting system” does not include a remote accessible vote by mail system. (Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 7…

The members of the state coordinating committee shall be elected as provided in the Green Party bylaws and shall have the responsibilities described in those bylaws. (Added by Stats. 2015, Ch. 726, Sec. 4. (AB 477) Effective January 1, 2016.)

A person shall not be a member of the state coordinating committee unless she or he is registered as a voter preferring the Green Party. (Added by Stats. 2015, Ch. 726, Sec. 4. (AB 477) Effective January 1, 2016.)

The state coordinating committee shall hold meetings at least once during each year. (Added by Stats. 2015, Ch. 726, Sec. 4. (AB 477) Effective January 1, 2016.)

(a) The state coordinating committee shall have the authority to certify, as provided by Green Party bylaws, county council members in the following counties: (1) Counties where no county council candidates qualified for the ballot in the preceding presidential preference primary…

The state coordinating committee shall communicate in writing to the Secretary of State the identity of the Green Party Liaison to the Secretary of State. (Added by Stats. 2015, Ch. 726, Sec. 4. (AB 477) Effective January 1, 2016.)