This section states that the rules outlined in this chapter apply to all ballots used in elections unless there's a special rule provided.

This law addresses what to do if an election can't happen in a precinct because the ballots are lost or destroyed. In such cases, the precinct officer must write a sworn statement about what happened and send it to the Governor. The Governor then has the choice to order a new election, but must do so if a candidate requests it.

This rule doesn't apply to elections held at vote centers.

This law outlines how ballots are distributed at elections in California. For general elections, there's just one ballot form for all candidates. However, during partisan primary elections, different ballots are provided based on political party preferences. Voters not affiliated with a political party receive a nonpartisan ballot, unless a political party allows them to vote in its primary. Political parties can set rules to allow unaffiliated voters to participate in their primaries, with proper notification to the Secretary of State. County officials keep records of which ballot type each voter requests, and these records can be accessed by authorized individuals or committees.

This section describes what must be included on every election ballot. It requires the title of each office to align with a specific format. Ballots must list the names of all eligible candidates, but for national conventions, it shows the presidential candidates instead of delegates. For presidential elections, it displays pairs of names for President and Vice President. Ballots also need to include titles and summaries of any measures being voted on.

If a candidate in an election in California changes their name within a year of the election, the new name can't be used on the ballot unless the change was due to marriage or a court order. This rule doesn't apply to candidates for President or Vice President.

This section explains how a candidate’s political party preference is displayed on ballots for various elections, including primaries, general elections, and special elections for certain federal and state offices. For candidates who have indicated a political party preference, it will state "Party Preference: [Party Name]," while those choosing not to declare a party preference will show as "Party Preference: None."

For presidential and vice-presidential candidates, their party name is listed to the right of their names. If a candidate for these offices is nominated by more than one party, all party names are listed, separated by commas, and the term “Independent” is used for independently nominated candidates.

This law states that on election ballots, a candidate’s name must appear without any titles or degrees next to it, neither before nor after the name. This applies to all elections for any office.

California's election law specifies the rules for how a candidate's job title or role can appear on the ballot next to their name, except for judicial candidates. Candidates can choose among different designations, like listing their current role, stating 'incumbent' if running for the same office, or highlighting their main professional title of the past year, with some restrictions.

Judicial candidates have similar guidelines, but can also use specific legal titles if they are active bar members. There are additional rules about geographical names, word counts, and what cannot appear, like misleading terms or words implying evaluations like 'outstanding'.

If an election official finds any issues, candidates have a brief window to correct their designation. Once set, the designation can't be changed after the filing deadline unless an official requests a correction or a written request is made well before a general election. Ballot designations must fit within designated space and may need translation for compliance with the Voting Rights Act.

If a candidate wants a specific description to appear next to their name on the election ballot, they must fill out a special form, called a ballot designation worksheet.

This form must be submitted at the same time the candidate officially declares they are running for office.

If the candidate fails to submit this form, no description will appear next to their name on the ballot.

Under Section 13107.5, candidates in California can use "community volunteer" as their main job title on the ballot if it truly reflects their main professional role. This is allowed only if they aren't also working in another primary job and must meet certain conditions. The term "community volunteer" can't be combined with any other job title. The Secretary of State will set rules about what qualifies as a community volunteer for this purpose.

This law outlines how to determine who the incumbent is in elections following the redistricting of congressional, state senatorial, assembly, and Board of Equalization districts. Initially, the incumbent is the candidate seeking reelection in a district with the same boundaries and number as their previous district.

If there's no such candidate, the incumbent is the one running in a district with the same boundaries but a different number. If that also doesn't apply, it's the candidate whose previous district's population makes up the largest part of the new district's population.

If none of those conditions are met, the incumbent is the candidate in a district with the same number if it's located in the same county (for Assembly candidates). Lastly, if no other conditions apply, the incumbent is the candidate meeting the residency requirements for the district.

This law outlines how different offices and measures should be listed on a California election ballot. Candidates for President and Vice President come first, followed by presidential delegates, state offices like Governor and Attorney General, and other important roles such as U.S. Senators and Representatives. Local positions like county supervisors and city mayors appear further down. Measures up for vote are listed under specific headings, and may vary in order for efficient use of space. However, the Superintendent of Public Instruction always comes before other local offices.

This law explains how the order of candidates and measures should appear on ballots in the County of Los Angeles during special elections to fill vacancies for the State Senate, State Assembly, U.S. House of Representatives, or U.S. Senate, when these are held alongside regular elections for the same office. On the ballot, candidates for the upcoming term are listed first under 'Regular Election.' Then, candidates for the remainder of the term are listed under 'Special Election.' Other offices and measures follow in an order outlined by a different guideline. This specific layout is temporary and will be repealed after January 1, four years after the related declaration date.

This law section allows election officials to change the order of how certain offices appear on the ballot. If specific offices are already on the ballot, officials can list additional offices directly after them. If not, these additional offices can be listed at the end of the ballot. This is to make it easier to follow another specific rule.

This law allows Los Angeles County to use a new ballot order system for three years after modernizing its voting system, starting from the date the project is declared complete. For special elections coinciding with regular elections, a different ballot order is used. The county must report on the costs and effects of using the new ballot order, including voter turnout and legislative recommendations. The report should compare the new system against the old system. Three years after the start date, the report must be submitted to the Secretary of State and the Legislature and posted online. This section is effective until four years after the project completion is declared and will be repealed after that.

This law section outlines the order in which various offices and measures should appear on an election ballot within California. The arrangement helps voters by maintaining a consistent format. It starts with local positions like Mayor and City Council Members and progresses through district, county, state, state judicial, and national election categories. Each section lists specific offices, like Governor at the state level and President and Vice President at the national level. Ballot initiatives and measures follow the listed offices within each category.

This law allows Los Angeles County to use a different order on election ballots if specified in other sections, even after the pilot project ended. The county elections official can change the instructions on the ballots to match this different order, despite any other laws that might say otherwise.

On election ballots, the list of candidates for any office, whether it's partisan, voter-nominated, or nonpartisan, must be the same for all voters allowed to vote in that election. However, in primary elections for partisan offices, candidates' names will only be on the ballots of the political party they are seeking nomination from. Similarly, candidates running for positions on a political party committee will only appear on that party's ballots.

This law outlines how candidates' names should be arranged on ballots for different types of elections. Presidential candidates pledged to delegates, President and Vice President pairs, statewide offices, Congress representatives, and State Board seats are all arranged using a randomized alphabet method. For State Senators or Assembly Members, if the area covers multiple counties, a different draw is used in each county. Different procedures apply depending on whether the election covers one or multiple counties or for different types of offices like local municipal roles. For judicial positions, the names are arranged similarly but not rotated by district.

This law involves how California determines the order of candidates' names on election ballots. The Secretary of State holds a drawing where each letter of the alphabet is randomly picked to create a 'randomized alphabet.' This determines the order candidates appear on the ballot, rather than the traditional alphabetical order.

Drawings occur six times every two years—three in even-numbered years and three in odd-numbered years—on specific days before major elections. The results are mailed to county election officials.

If a local election coincides with a major election but has a later nomination deadline, a different process applies. Each drawing is public, and notifications are sent to media and officials 10 days prior. Special rules apply for special elections.

This law section explains how candidate names should be ordered on ballots for certain local elections. If an election in a special district, school district, or charter city (without opposing charter rules) happens on a date not listed in another rule, the election official must immediately inform the Secretary of State by mail of key dates like the election day and candidate filing deadlines. If the filing period is extended because an incumbent doesn’t file, a random alphabet drawing decides the name order on ballots.

When multiple local elections are held on the same day, one alphabet drawing may be used for all. For runoff elections in charter cities, a separate drawing is needed, and officials must notify the Secretary of State immediately after the initial election to request this. The alphabet drawings, which determine how candidates' names appear on ballots, must be open to the public and are communicated by registered mail.

This law allows a city council to decide how the names of candidates for city office will rotate on election ballots. Before a specific date, the council can pass a resolution detailing this process. The resolution must specify which precincts, or groups of precincts, will be used for this rotation.

The precincts are grouped into clusters, each with a similar number of registered voters, and numbered. The ballot order for the first cluster follows the Secretary of State's randomized alphabet. For other clusters, the candidate names are rotated in a specific pattern based on the number of candidates and clusters.

Before the rotation is approved, the council must also consider the cost and decide how these costs will be managed, especially if the election is combined with county or state elections.

This law explains how state measures should be listed on the California ballot when voters see it. First, any bond measures appear in the order they qualify. Next are constitutional amendments, also in order of qualification. Then, legislative measures (not bond or constitutional amendments) follow, based on when the Legislature approves them. After that, initiative measures (not bond or constitutional amendments) are listed by qualification order. Finally, referendum measures appear in order of qualification.

In elections where state and local measures are voted on, state measures are numbered, while local measures use letters, starting with "A." Larger areas like counties or cities can work together to avoid using the same letters in back-to-back elections, preventing voter confusion. An election official might start at a different letter if it helps avoid overlap or confusion from previous elections' measures.

Starting from the November 3, 1998 general election, all statewide ballot measures in California are assigned numbers in an ongoing sequence beginning with '1'. This sequence runs for 10 years. Once the 10-year cycle ends, the numbering resets, starting again with '1' at the next election with state measures on the ballot.

If you're running for office and someone with a similar name, which could confuse voters, enters the race, you can ask election officials to assign numbers next to candidates' names on the ballot to differentiate them. You must file a statement with the election officials, either when you submit your nomination paper or within five days after nominations close. The first candidate to file gets the number '1', and others get subsequent numbers based on when they filed.

This law also requires a warning on the ballot and voter guides if there are candidates with identical names, alerting voters to the similarity. The order of candidates on the ballot is decided by a draw of these assigned numbers.

This law explains how local ballot measures should be presented to voters. When a local government proposes a measure, the ballot must clearly ask if it should be adopted, with "Yes" and "No" options for voters to select. If the measure involves a tax, the ballot needs to state how much money will be raised, the tax rate, and how long it will last. The measure's description must be neutral, not argumentative, and unbiased. "Local governing body" refers to city or county authorities, including school districts.

When voters in a county, city, or district are asked to decide on an ordinance via a referendum, the ballot will ask if the ordinance should be adopted, providing 'Yes' or 'No' options. 'Yes' means you want the ordinance adopted, while 'No' means you don't.

For state laws referred to voters as a referendum, the ballot will ask if California should keep or overturn the law, specifying the year and a brief summary of the law's subject. Options given are 'Keep the law' or 'Overturn the law', with marks indicating support or opposition.

This law states that during school elections, voters should only receive one ballot, even if there are multiple propositions to vote on. However, voters will only receive propositions related to their specific district or area to ensure they don't vote on issues outside their jurisdiction.