Title ELEC, California Elec. Code

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…

(a) Except as provided in Section 14222, a voting booth or compartment shall not be occupied by more than one person at a time, unless the voter is eligible under the assisted-voter provisions. (b) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a voter shall not remain in or occupy a v…

Members of the precinct board shall not deposit in the ballot container any ballot from which the slip containing the number of the ballot has not been removed by a member of the precinct board and handed to the voter. This section does not apply to a vote by mail ballot. (Amende…

Any member of the precinct board, when using a language other than English at the polls, shall communicate with voters in that language only as he or she would be lawfully permitted to communicate in English under the code. The member shall be subject to like penalty for any ille…

(a) At a partisan primary election, before providing a voter who has declined to disclose a political party preference with a nonpartisan ballot or before the voter enters the voting booth, as applicable, a member of the precinct board shall provide a uniform notification to the …

If paper ballots are used in conjunction with this system, counting shall be as provided in Article 5 (commencing with Section 15270) and Article 6 (commencing with Section 15290). (Repealed and added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 1073, Sec. 27. Effective January 1, 1999.)

(a) As soon as the polls are closed, the precinct board shall, in the presence of the public do all of the following: (1) Seal the container used to transport voted ballots and insure that the precinct number, or in an election conducted using a voter center, the vote center numb…

If the ballots are to be counted at a central counting place, no fewer than two precinct board members shall, following the close of the polls, deliver the ballots, in a sealed container, to the central counting place or a designated receiving station. There may be two or more ce…

The vote tabulating device may be located at any place within the state approved by the elections official of the county or other political subdivision using the device. The same device may be jointly owned, borrowed, leased, or used by two or more counties, cities, or other poli…

All proceedings at the central counting place, or counting places, if applicable, shall be open to the view of the public but no person, except one employed and designated for the purpose by the elections official or his or her authorized deputy, shall touch any ballot container.…

(a) A person may be employed to count, tally, and certify the ballots if he or she is not a candidate at the election and if he or she satisfies either of the following requirements: (1) Has the qualifications required for a precinct board member. (2) Is a deputy or employee of e…

The elections official or any deputy authorized by the elections official may excuse or dismiss any person from any counting board and enforce the order. (Added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 1073, Sec. 27. Effective January 1, 1999.)

The elections official or authorized deputy shall segregate the persons employed to count the ballots into counting boards. These counting boards shall be deemed to be precinct boards, and are subject to all laws governing precinct boards where ballots are counted at the polling …

(a) Each container of ballots shall be opened and its contents removed. The ballots shall be checked to ascertain if the ballots are properly grouped and shall be arranged, if necessary, so that all similar ballots from the precinct are together. (b) Any ballot that contains pers…

Any magnetic or electronic storage medium, or copy thereof, used for the ballot tabulation program and any magnetic or electronic storage medium, or copy thereof, containing election results shall be kept in a secure location and shall be retained for 6 months following any local…

In preparing the voted ballots for processing, any ballot that is torn, bent, or otherwise defective shall be corrected so that every vote cast by the voter shall be counted by the automatic tabulating equipment. If necessary, a true duplicate copy of the defective ballot shall b…

If voting at all precincts within a county is not conducted using the same voting system, the result as to the precincts not subject to this article shall be determined in accordance with other provisions of this code and the result of the vote at precincts subject to this articl…

In case of an emergency in which it becomes impossible to transport the ballots from the precinct to a central counting place, the elections official may direct that the ballots be counted at the precinct. In those cases, counting shall be conducted substantially in accordance wi…

For purposes of this division, “state-approved testing agency” means a person or entity that is authorized by the Secretary of State to conduct the testing and examination of a voting system in connection with certification or conditional approval of the voting system pursuant to…

The Secretary of State shall do all of the following: (a) Publish requirements for the approval of state-approved testing agencies that are authorized to conduct the testing and examination of voting systems. Until the requirements are published, federally accredited voting syste…

The person, corporation, or public agency applying for certification of a voting system is responsible for all costs associated with the testing of the voting system. (Added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 602, Sec. 35. (SB 360) Effective January 1, 2014.)

The Secretary of State shall use a state-approved testing agency or expert technicians to examine and test voting systems or parts of voting systems proposed for use or sale in this state. He or she shall furnish a complete report of the findings of the examination and testing to…

(a) The county elections official shall conduct a preelection residency confirmation procedure as provided in this article. This procedure shall be completed by the 90th day immediately before the primary election. The procedure shall be initiated by mailing a nonforwardable post…

(a) Based on the postal notices on the returned residency confirmation postcards received pursuant to Section 2220, the county elections official shall take the following actions: (1) The voter registration status of a voter whose residency confirmation postcard is returned by th…

In lieu of mailing a residency confirmation postcard, as prescribed in subdivision (a) of Section 2220, the Secretary of State or a county elections official may contract with the United States Postal Service or its licensees to obtain use of postal service change-of-address data…

(a) In lieu of mailing a residency confirmation postcard to each registered voter in the county, the county elections official may include the return address of the county elections official’s office on the outside portion of the county voter information guide or county voter inf…

(a) If a voter has not voted in an election within the preceding four years, and the voter’s residence address, name, or party preference has not been updated during that time, the county elections official may send an alternate residency confirmation postcard. The use of this po…

(a) (1) Based on change-of-address data received from the United States Postal Service or its licensees, the county elections official shall send a forwardable notice, including a postage-paid and preaddressed return form, to enable the voter to verify or correct address informat…

(a) Based on change-of-address information received pursuant to Sections 2220 to 2225, inclusive, or change-of-address information provided directly by the voter, the county elections official shall take the following actions as appropriate: (1) If the information indicates the v…

(a) In lieu of mailing a residency confirmation postcard, as prescribed in subdivision (a) of Section 2220, the county elections official may contract with a consumer credit reporting agency or its licensees to obtain use of change-of-address data in accordance with this section.…

(a) The Secretary of State shall place the name of a candidate upon the American Independent Party presidential preference ballot when the Secretary of State has determined that the candidate is generally advocated for or recognized in the news media throughout the United States …

When the Secretary of State decides to place the name of a candidate on the ballot pursuant to Section 6520, he or she shall notify the candidate that his or her name will appear on the ballot of this state in the presidential primary. The Secretary of State shall also notify the…

If a selected candidate or an unselected candidate files with the Secretary of State, no later than the 68th day before the presidential primary, an affidavit stating without qualification that he or she is not now a candidate for the office of President of the United States at t…

Any unselected candidate desiring to have his or her name placed on the presidential preference primary ballot without filing a group of candidates for delegates, shall have nomination papers circulated in his or her behalf. In order to qualify his or her name for placement on th…

The name of any presidential candidate, to whom are pledged a group of candidates who have qualified by petition for the delegate selection portion of the presidential primary ballot, shall, in addition, be automatically placed on the presidential preference portion of the ballot…

The committee shall convene in the same community where the state convention is held, at 10 a.m. on the Sunday following the state convention. (Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 199, Sec. 22. Effective January 1, 1999.)

The state central committee shall hold meetings not less than once during each year. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)