DIVISION 0.5. PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS [1. - 362.]

Division 0.5 heading added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 1143, Sec. 17.

§§ 1–362 · 113 sections

1. CHAPTER 1. General Provisions §§ 1–21 · 21 sections

   • § 1 This act shall be known as the Elections Code.
   • § 2 The provisions of this code, insofar as they are substantially the same as existing statutory provisions relating to the same subject matter, shall be…
   • § 3 If any provision of this code or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the code and the application of that…
   • § 4 Unless the provision or the context otherwise requires, these general provisions, rules of construction, and definitions shall govern the construction of this…
   • § 5 Division, part, chapter, article, and section headings do not in any manner affect the scope, meaning, or intent of this code.
   • § 6 Whenever a power is granted to, or a duty is imposed upon, a public officer, the power may be exercised or the duty may be performed by a deputy of the officer…
   • § 7 Writing includes any form of recorded message capable of comprehension by ordinary visual means. Whenever any notice, report, statement or record is required…
   • § 8 As used in this code, the present tense includes the past and future tenses, and the future the present; the masculine gender includes the feminine; and the…
   • § 9 (a) Counting of words, for purposes of this code, shall be as follows: (1) Punctuation is not counted. (2) Each word shall be counted as one word except as…
   • § 10 (a) The Secretary of State is the chief elections officer of the state, and has the powers and duties specified in this code and Section 12172.5 of the…
   • § 10.5 (a) There is established within the Secretary of State the Office of Elections Cybersecurity. (b) The primary missions of the Office of Elections Cybersecurity…
   • § 11 On written call of the Secretary of State, the county elections officials, city elections officials, and registrars of voters of this state may meet with the…
   • § 12 Whenever any candidate files a declaration of candidacy, nomination paper, or any other paper evidencing an intention to be a candidate for any public office…
   • § 13 (a) A person shall not be considered a legally qualified candidate for an office, for party nomination for a partisan office, or for nomination to participate…
   • § 13.5 (a) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 13, a person shall not be considered a legally qualified candidate for any of the offices set forth in…
   • § 14 In case of a disaster in which a portion or all of the voting records of any county are destroyed, the Governor may appoint an election commission to outline…
   • § 15 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the last day for the performance of any act provided for or required by this code shall be a holiday, as defined…
   • § 16 A copy of Section 84305 of the Government Code shall be provided by the elections official to each candidate or his or her agent at the time of filing the…
   • § 17 The Secretary of State shall establish and maintain administrative complaint procedures, pursuant to the requirements of the federal Help America Vote Act of…
   • § 20 (a) A person shall not be considered a candidate for, and is not eligible to be elected to, any state or local elective office if the person has been convicted…
   • § 21 (a) Within three court days after a state or local agency or political subdivision files or is served with a court action relating to elections that contains a…
2. CHAPTER 2. Petitions and Petition Signers §§ 100–108 · 10 sections

   • § 100 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, whenever an initiative, referendum, recall, nominating petition or paper, or any other petition or paper is…
   • § 100.5 Notwithstanding Section 100, a voter who is unable to personally affix on a petition or paper the information required by Section 100 may request another…
   • § 101 (a) Notwithstanding any other law, a state or local initiative, referendum, or recall petition required to be signed by voters shall contain in 11-point type,…
   • § 102 A person shall not circulate a state or local initiative, referendum, or recall petition or nominating paper unless the person is 18 years of age or older.
   • § 103 A voter who has signed an initiative, referendum, or recall petition pursuant to the Constitution or laws of this state shall have their signature withdrawn…
   • § 104 (a) Wherever any petition or paper is submitted to the elections official, each section of the petition or paper shall have attached to it a declaration signed…
   • § 105 (a) (1) For purposes of verifying a signature on an initiative, referendum, recall, nomination, or other election petition or paper, the elections official…
   • § 106 Notwithstanding any other provision of law: (a) Any registered voter who is a candidate for any office may obtain signatures to and sign his or her own…
   • § 107 (a) (1) A committee formed pursuant to Section 82013 of the Government Code that pays for the circulation of a state or local initiative, referendum, or recall…
   • § 108 Notwithstanding any other law, the pages of a petition may be bound together by any reasonable method, including the use of staples.
3. CHAPTER 3. Nominations §§ 200–202 · 3 sections

   • § 200 Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, there shall be set forth in full in the declaration of candidacy required for any primary or final…
   • § 201 Unless otherwise specifically provided, no person is eligible to be elected or appointed to an elective office unless that person is a registered voter and…
   • § 202 Notwithstanding any other law, a person who is deployed on active military service outside of the state and is unable to appear to file a declaration of…
4. CHAPTER 4. Definitions §§ 300–362 · 79 sections

   • § 300 (a) “Vote by mail voter” means any voter casting a ballot in any way other than at the polling place. (b) “Military or overseas voter” means an elector absent…
   • § 300.5 “Affiliated with a political party” as used in reference to a voter or to a candidate for a voter-nominated office means the party preference that the voter or…
   • § 301 (a) A “ballot” is the presentation of the contests consisting of offices and measures, and the candidates and choices to be voted on. (b) The ballot…
   • § 302 “Ballot card” means a card or a number of cards upon which are printed, or identified by reference to the ballot, the names of candidates for nomination or…
   • § 303 “Ballot label” means: (a) For a candidate, the combination of candidate name and candidate designation. (b) For a statewide measure, a condensed version of the…
   • § 303.1 Notwithstanding Section 303, for a statewide referendum measure, the ballot label shall consist of the condensed title and summary which includes the ballot…
   • § 303.3 “Remote accessible vote by mail system” means a mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic system and its software that is used for the sole purpose of…
   • § 303.4 “Ballot on demand system” means a self-contained system that allows users to do both of the following on an as-needed basis: (a) Manufacture and finish card…
   • § 303.5 (a) “Ballot title” is the name of a statewide initiative measure or measure proposed by the Legislature, or, in the case of a statewide referendum measure, the…
   • § 304 “Campaign advertising or communication” means a communication authorized by a candidate or a candidate’s controlled committee, as defined in Section 82016 of…
   • § 305 (a) “Candidate,” for purposes of Section 2184, includes any person who declares in writing, under penalty of perjury, that the person is a candidate, naming…
   • § 305.5 (a) “Paper cast vote record” means an auditable document that corresponds to the selection made on the voter’s ballot and lists the contests on the ballot and…
   • § 306 “City measure” includes any proposed city charter, any proposed amendment to a city charter, any proposition for the issuance of bonds by the city, any…
   • § 307 “Clerk” means the county elections official, registrar of voters, city clerk, or other officer or board charged with the duty of conducting any election.
   • § 308 “District elections official,” for the purposes of initiative and referendum under Article 1 (commencing with Section 9300) of Chapter 4 of Division 9,…
   • § 309 “Committee,” as used in Article 1 (commencing with Section 20200) of Chapter 3 of Division 20, means any person or combination of persons who, directly or…
   • § 310 “County” and “city” both include “city and county.”
   • § 312 “County measure” includes any proposed county charter, any proposed amendment to a county charter, any proposition for the issuance of funding or refunding…
   • § 313 “County office” means the office filled by any county officer.
   • § 314 “County officer” means any elected officer enumerated in Division 2 (commencing with Section 24000) of Title 3 of the Government Code.
   • § 316 “Direct primary” is the primary election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June in each even-numbered year that is not evenly divisible by…
   • § 317 “District,” for purposes of initiative and referendum under Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 9300) of Division 9, includes any regional agency that has the…
   • § 318 “Election” means any election including a primary that is provided for under this code.
   • § 319 “Election board” means the board of supervisors of each county, the city council or other governing body of a city, or any board or officer to whom similar…
   • § 319.5 (a) “Electioneering” means the visible display or audible dissemination of information that advocates for or against any candidate or measure on the ballot…
   • § 320 “Elections official” means any of the following: (a) A clerk or any person who is charged with the duty of conducting an election. (b) A county clerk, city…
   • § 321 (a) “Elector” means a person who is a United States citizen 18 years of age or older and, except as specified in subdivision (b), is a resident of an election…
   • § 322 “Electoral jurisdiction,” as used in Division 11 (commencing with Section 11000), means the area within which the voters reside who are qualified to vote for…
   • § 323 “Federal election” means any presidential election, general election, primary election, or special election held solely or in part for the purpose of…
   • § 324 (a) “General election” means either of the following: (1) The election held throughout the state on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November in…
   • § 325 “Inspector” means the supervisor of the precinct board of which he or she is a member.
   • § 326 “Judicial office” means the office filled by any judicial officer.
   • § 327 “Judicial officer” means any Justice of the Supreme Court, justice of a court of appeal, or judge of the superior court.
   • § 327.5 “Jurisdiction” means any county, city and county, city, or special district that conducts elections pursuant to this code.
   • § 328 “Local election” is a municipal, county, or district election.
   • § 329 “Measure” means any constitutional amendment or other proposition submitted to a popular vote at any election.
   • § 330 “Municipal election” means elections in general law cities and where applicable in chartered cities.
   • § 332.5 “Nominate” means the selection, at a state-conducted primary election, of candidates who are entitled by law to participate in the general election for that…
   • § 333 “Nomination documents” means declaration of candidacy and nomination papers.
   • § 334 “Nonpartisan office” means an office, except for a voter-nominated office, for which no party may nominate a candidate. Judicial, school, county, and municipal…
   • § 335 “Oath” includes affirmation.
   • § 335.5 The “official canvass” is the public process of processing and tallying all ballots received in an election, including, but not limited to, provisional ballots…
   • § 336 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…
   • § 336.5 (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,…
   • § 336.7 “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…
   • § 337 “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…
   • § 338 “Party” means a political party or organization that has qualified for participation in any primary or presidential general election.
   • § 338.5 “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…
   • § 338.6 “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…
   • § 339 (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…
   • § 340 “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.
   • § 341 “Primary election” includes all primary nominating elections provided for by this code.
   • § 342 “Proponent or proponents of an initiative or referendum measure” means, for statewide initiative and referendum measures, the elector or electors who submit…
   • § 343 “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…
   • § 344 “Punchcard” means a tabulating card on which the voter may record his or her vote by punching, marking, or slotting.
   • § 345 “Punching” includes marking a ballot card to record a vote.
   • § 346 “Rebuttable presumption” shall be deemed a presumption which affects the burden of producing evidence.
   • § 348 “Regular election” is an election, the specific time for the holding of which is prescribed by law.
   • § 349 (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…
   • § 349.5 “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…
   • § 350 “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,…
   • § 351 “School office” means the office filled by any school officer.
   • § 352 “School officer” means the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the superintendent of schools of a county.
   • § 353 “Section” means a section of this code unless some other statute is specifically mentioned.
   • § 353.5 The “semifinal official canvass” is the public process of collecting, processing, and tallying ballots and, for state or statewide elections, reporting results…
   • § 354 “Shall” is mandatory and “may” is permissive.
   • § 354.5 (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…
   • § 355 “Software” includes all programs, voting devices, cards, ballot cards or papers, operating manuals or instructions, test procedures, printouts, and other…
   • § 356 “Special election” is an election, the specific time for the holding of which is not prescribed by law.
   • § 356.5 “Spouse” includes “registered domestic partner,” as required by Section 297.5 of the Family Code.
   • § 357 “Statewide election” is an election held throughout the state.
   • § 357.5 “Vote center” means a location established for holding elections that offers the services described in Sections 2170 and 4005.
   • § 358 “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…
   • § 359 “Voter” means any elector who is registered under this code.
   • § 359.2 “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…
   • § 359.5 (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…
   • § 360 “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…
   • § 361 “Voting machine” means any electronic device, including, but not limited to, a precinct optical scanner and a direct recording voting system, into which a…
   • § 362 “Voting system” means a mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic system and its software, or any combination of these used for casting a ballot, tabulating…