DIVISION 13. BALLOTS, SAMPLE BALLOTS, AND VOTER PAMPHLETS [13000. - 13600.]
Division 13 enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.
§§ 13000–13600 · 97 sections
CHAPTER 1. Purchasing Procedures §§ 13000–13006 · 7 sections
- § 13000 The person in charge of elections for any county, city and county, city, or district shall provide ballots for any elections within his or her jurisdiction,…
- § 13001 All expenses authorized and necessarily incurred in the preparation for, and conduct of, elections as provided in this code shall be paid from the county…
- § 13002 Ballot paper and ballot cards used by a jurisdiction holding an election pursuant to the laws of California shall be tinted and watermarked or overprinted with…
- § 13004 (a) The Secretary of State shall adopt regulations governing the manufacture, finishing, quality standards, distribution, and inventory control of ballot cards…
- § 13004.5 (a) A jurisdiction shall not purchase, lease, or contract for a ballot on demand system unless the ballot on demand system has been certified by the Secretary…
- § 13005 (a) Before a user may purchase ballot cards, the user shall request in writing a release for a specific quantity of these ballot cards from the Secretary of…
- § 13006 A user, vendor, or manufacturer shall not warehouse for a subsequent election ballot paper or ballot cards furnished or released by the Secretary of State for…
CHAPTER 2. Forms of Ballots: Ballot Order §§ 13100–13121 · 29 sections
- § 13100 All ballots used in all elections shall be governed by this chapter unless otherwise specifically provided.
- § 13101 (a) In the case of the prevention of an election in any precinct by the loss or destruction of the ballots intended for that precinct, the inspector or other…
- § 13102 (a) All voting shall be by ballot. There shall be provided, at each polling place, at each election at which public officers are to be voted for, but one form…
- § 13103 Every ballot shall contain all of the following: (a) The title of each office, arranged to conform as nearly as practicable to the plan set forth in this…
- § 13104 (a) If a candidate changes their name within one year of any election, the new name shall not appear upon the ballot unless the change was made by either of…
- § 13105 (a) In the case of a candidate for a voter-nominated office in a primary election, a general election, or a special election to fill a vacancy in the office of…
- § 13106 No title or degree shall appear on the same line on a ballot as a candidate’s name, either before or after the candidate’s name, in the case of any election to…
- § 13107 (a) With the exception of candidates for Justice of the State Supreme Court or court of appeal, immediately under the name of each candidate, and not separated…
- § 13107.3 (a) A candidate who submits a ballot designation pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 13107 shall file a ballot designation worksheet that supports the use…
- § 13107.5 (a) A candidate’s ballot designation as “community volunteer” shall constitute a valid principal vocation or occupation for purposes of subdivision (a) of…
- § 13108 (a) At the first elections for Representative in Congress, State Senator, Member of the Assembly, and Member of the Board of Equalization in each…
- § 13109 The order of precedence of offices on the ballot shall be as listed below for those offices and measures that apply to the election for which this ballot is…
- § 13109.5 Notwithstanding anything in Section 13109 to the contrary, and to facilitate compliance with Section 13206, the elections official may list the offices…
- § 13109.7 (a) (1) Notwithstanding Section 13109, for a period of three years commencing with the date that the county elections official for the County of Los Angeles…
- § 13109.8 For the purposes of Sections 13109.7 and 13109.9, the order of precedence of offices on the ballot shall be as listed below for those offices and measures that…
- § 13109.9 Notwithstanding Section 13109, the county elections official for the County of Los Angeles may use the alternate ballot order described in Sections 13109.8 and…
- § 13109.10 (a) When a special election to fill a vacancy in the State Senate, State Assembly, United States House of Representatives, or United States Senate is…
- § 13110 The group of names of candidates for any partisan office, voter-nominated office, or nonpartisan office shall be the same on the ballots of all voters entitled…
- § 13111 Candidates for each office shall be printed on the ballot in accordance with the following rules: (a) The names of presidential candidates to whom candidates…
- § 13112 The Secretary of State shall conduct a drawing of the letters of the alphabet, the result of which shall be known as a randomized alphabet. The procedure shall…
- § 13113 (a) In the case of an election of candidates in a special district, school district, charter city (whose charter does not provide to the contrary), or other…
- § 13114 (a) At any regular meeting of a city council held prior to the date on which the Secretary of State conducts the randomized alphabet drawing applicable to the…
- § 13115 The order in which all state measures that are to be submitted to the voters shall appear on the ballot is as follows: (a) Bond measures, including those…
- § 13116 (a) In an election at which state, county, city, or other local measures are submitted to a vote of the voters, all state measures shall be numbered in…
- § 13117 (a) Commencing with the November 3, 1998, general election, all state measures in all elections at which state measures are submitted to a vote of the voters…
- § 13118 The following rules apply when a person who is a candidate for an office believes that another person with a name that is so similar that it may be confused…
- § 13119 (a) The ballots used when voting upon a measure proposed by a local governing body or submitted to the voters as an initiative or referendum measure pursuant…
- § 13120 (a) The ballots used when voting upon a county, city, or district ordinance referred to the voters of the respective jurisdiction as a referendum measure…
- § 13121 Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, the county elections official conducting any school election shall not be required to provide more than one…
CHAPTER 3. Ballot Printing Specifications §§ 13200–13282 · 35 sections
ARTICLE 1. General Provisions §§ 13200–13220 · 23 sections
- § 13200 Ballots not printed in substantial compliance with this chapter shall not be cast nor counted at any election.
- § 13201 The ballots of each political party’s central committee shall be designed so that each ballot may be easily and clearly distinguished from, and not confused…
- § 13202 (a) All ballots of the same sort prepared by any county elections official, clerk or secretary of a legislative body, or other person having charge of…
- § 13203 At the top of the first page of the ballot shall be printed in at least 16-point bold type the words “Official Ballot.” Beneath this heading, the name of the…
- § 13204 (a) The instructions to voters shall be printed below the ballot identification and above the contests to be voted on, or in the first column of the ballot as…
- § 13206 (a) (1) On the partisan ballot used in a direct primary election, immediately before or above the contest for President, the following words shall be printed…
- § 13206.5 (a) (1) On the ballot used in a statewide general election in each year evenly divisible by the number four, immediately before or above the contest for…
- § 13207 (a) There shall be printed on the ballot in parallel columns all of the following: (1) The respective offices. (2) The names of candidates with sufficient…
- § 13208 (a) A voting target shall be printed next to the name of each voting option. The voting targets shall be used by the voters to express their choices as…
- § 13209 Whenever a foreign translation of the ballot is required by the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended by Public Law 94-73, to appear on the ballot as…
- § 13210 (a) In the case of candidates for delegate to national convention, there shall be printed in at least 10-point bold type, the words, “President of the United…
- § 13211 The names of the candidates shall be printed on the ballot, without indentation, in at least 10-point bold type.
- § 13211.5 (a) Each group of names of candidates for a particular office shall be printed in immediate succession to another group of names of candidates for a particular…
- § 13211.7 (a) (1) In jurisdictions required to provide translated ballot materials pursuant to Section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. Sec.…
- § 13212 Except for a voter-nominated office at a general election, under the designation of each office shall be printed as many blank spaces, defined by light lines,…
- § 13213 Each group of names of candidates for a particular office shall be separated from the succeeding group. Each series of groups shall be headed by a caption that…
- § 13214 All sides of the columns on the ballot shall be bordered. The binding or stitching of each package of ballots shall be along the top or head of the ballot. If…
- § 13215 (a) The ballots may be printed on the same leaf with a stub not over one inch in depth. The stub may be separated from the ballot by a horizontal perforated…
- § 13216 A ballot stub may be used for a ballot. The ballots may contain printed and distinguishing marks if secrecy in voting is protected.
- § 13217 (a) The number on each ballot shall be the same as that on the corresponding stub, and the ballots and stubs shall be numbered consecutively in each county, or…
- § 13218 (a) The Secretary of State shall establish a ballot design advisory committee to assist the Secretary of State to promulgate regulations that prescribe ballot…
- § 13219 When printed, all ballots shall be bound in stub books, of such size as the clerk may determine. A record of the number of ballots printed shall be kept by the…
- § 13220 If two or more officers are to be elected for the same office for different terms, the terms for which each candidate for the office is nominated shall be…
ARTICLE 2. Allowable Changes in Ballot Format and Printing §§ 13230–13233 · 4 sections
- § 13230 (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…
- § 13231 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…
- § 13232 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the purpose of conducting the Democratic Party Presidential Primary Election, the Secretary of State may, if it…
- § 13233 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…
ARTICLE 3. Vote Tabulating Devices §§ 13240–13247 · 7 sections
- § 13240 Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code, the ballots to be counted by means of electronic or electromechanical devices may be of a size, composition,…
- § 13241 The names of the candidates and the respective offices shall be printed on the ballot in parallel columns at least 2 inches wide.
- § 13242 Where electromechanical vote tabulating devices are used to count all or part of the ballots, the names of presidential candidates may be printed in the same…
- § 13243 The ballots may contain printed code marks or punched holes that may be used for placing the ballots in correct reading position in the counting devices. The…
- § 13244 The county voter information guide provided pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 13300) shall include a substantial facsimile of the official ballot,…
- § 13246 The device for marking the ballot may be of any size, shape, or form, and the impression made on the ballot may be in the form of a cross, square, circle,…
- § 13247 The statement of all measures submitted to the voters shall be abbreviated on the ballot in a ballot label as provided for in Section 9051. The ballot label…
ARTICLE 5. Ballot Labels § 13282 · 1 section
- § 13282 Whenever the Attorney General prepares a condensed ballot title and summary, the Attorney General shall file a copy of the condensed ballot title and summary…
CHAPTER 4. State and County Voter Information Guides §§ 13300–13317 · 20 sections
- § 13300 (a) By at least 29 days before the partisan primary, each county elections official shall prepare a separate county voter information guide for each political…
- § 13300.5 In order to facilitate the timely production and distribution of county voter information guides, the county elections official may prepare a combined county…
- § 13300.7 Notwithstanding any other law, county and city elections officials may establish procedures designed to permit a voter to opt out of receiving the voter’s…
- § 13302 (a) The county elections official shall forthwith submit the county voter information guide of each political party to the chairperson of the county central…
- § 13303 (a) For each election, each appropriate elections official shall cause to be printed, on plain white paper or tinted paper, without watermark, at least as many…
- § 13304 The notice of the polling place which is sent to each voter as provided in Section 13303 may, at the option of the local elections official, inform the voter…
- § 13305 (a) Notwithstanding Sections 13300 and 13303 a county elections official may elect not to mail a county voter information guide to a voter if both of the…
- § 13306 Notwithstanding Sections 13300, 13303, and 13307, county voter information guides and candidates’ statements need not be mailed to voters who registered after…
- § 13307 (a) (1) Each candidate for nonpartisan elective office in any local agency, including any city, county, city and county, or district, may prepare a candidate’s…
- § 13307.5 A candidate for United States Representative may purchase the space to place a statement in the voter information portion of the county voter information guide…
- § 13307.7 (a) An elections official shall post the form to be used by a candidate to submit a candidate statement pursuant to Section 13307, Section 13307.5, or…
- § 13308 In addition to the restrictions set forth in Section 13307, any candidate’s statement submitted pursuant to Section 13307 shall be limited to a recitation of…
- § 13309 (a) Notwithstanding Section 13307, if a candidate alleges to be indigent and unable to pay in advance the requisite fee for submitting a candidate statement,…
- § 13310 Prior to the nomination period for an election, the governing body of the local agency conducting the election may determine that Section 13307 is inapplicable…
- § 13311 Notwithstanding the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code), the statements filed…
- § 13312 (a) Each county voter information guide prepared pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 13307 shall contain a notice in the heading of the first page, not…
- § 13313 (a) The elections official shall make a copy of the material referred to in Section 13307 available for public examination in the elections official’s office…
- § 13314 (a) (1) An elector may seek a writ of mandate alleging that an error or omission has occurred, or is about to occur, in the placing of a name on, or in the…
- § 13316 Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, a county, city, city and county, or district using voting machines may use reasonable facsimiles of the county…
- § 13317 Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, a county, city, city and county, or district using vote tabulating devices may use reasonable facsimiles of the…
CHAPTER 5. Facsimile Copies of Ballots § 13400 · 1 section
- § 13400 (a) A vote by mail voter may request that a facsimile copy of his or her ballot in the language of his or her preference be sent to him or her by regular mail…
CHAPTER 6. Partisan Primary Elections §§ 13500–13502.5 · 4 sections
- § 13500 This chapter applies only to partisan primary elections.
- § 13501 (a) The Secretary of State shall include in the state voter information guide the information specified in subdivision (a) of Section 9083.5, including a…
- § 13502 (a) With each nonpartisan vote by mail ballot that is sent to a voter who has declined to disclose a political party preference, the county elections official…
- § 13502.5 (a) This section applies to a nonpartisan ballot provided to a voter who has declined to disclose a political party preference for use in voting in a…
CHAPTER 7. Ballot Mistakes § 13600 · 1 section
- § 13600 The Secretary of State, in consultation with county elections officials, shall develop uniform standards and guidelines for a voter to correct mistakes made on…