Article 2. Nomination Of Candidates of California Elections Code >> Division 10. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 2.

Candidates may be nominated for any of the elective offices of the city in the following manner: Not earlier than the 113th day nor later than the 88th day before a municipal election during normal office hours, as posted, the voters may nominate candidates for election by signing a nomination paper. Each candidate shall be proposed by not less than 20 nor more than 30 voters in a city of 1,000 registered voters or more, and not less than five nor more than 10 voters in a city of less than 1,000 registered voters, but only one candidate may be named in any one nomination paper. No voter may sign more than one nomination paper for the same office, and in the event the voter does so, that voter's signature shall count only on the first nomination paper filed which contains the voter's signature. Nomination papers subsequently filed and containing that voter's signature shall be considered as though that signature does not appear thereon. Each seat on the governing body is a separate office. Any person who meets the requirements of Section 102 may circulate a nomination paper. Only one person may circulate each nomination paper. Where there are full terms and short terms to be filled, the term shall be specified in the nomination paper.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a candidate shall not file nomination papers for more than one municipal office or term of office for the same municipality in the same election.

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the signatures to each nomination paper shall be appended on the same sheet of paper, and each signer shall add his or her place of residence, giving the street and number, if any, or another designation of his or her place of residence, so as to enable its location to be readily ascertained.
  (b) Once a nomination paper is filed with the elections official, the nomination paper may not be returned to the candidate to obtain additional signatures. If the nomination paper is determined to be insufficient or the candidate fails to obtain the correct number of valid signatures on his or her nomination paper, the elections official shall retain the original nomination paper, provide a copy of the nomination paper to the candidate with an indication on of which signatures are valid, and issue one supplemental petition to the candidate on which the candidate may collect additional signatures. The supplemental petition shall be filed not later than the last day for filing for that office. The form of the supplemental petition shall be the same as the nomination paper, except that the word "Supplemental" shall be inserted above the phrase "Nomination Paper."

Every nomination paper shall have annexed an affidavit of the person who circulated it, to the effect that he or she saw written all the signatures appended thereto, and knows that they are the signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be.

Each nomination paper shall be accompanied by a verified statement of the candidate that he or she will accept the nomination, and will also accept the office in the event of his election. The statement shall contain a blank space wherein the candidate shall be required to fill in his or her name in the manner in which he or she wishes the same to appear on the ballot and also the designation which he or she wishes to have under his or her name on the ballot, which designation shall conform to one of the designations permitted under this code relating to the forms of ballots generally.

All nomination papers shall be filed with the city elections official during regular business hours as posted, not later than the 88th day before the election. Until that time, but not after, a candidate may withdraw his or her nomination paper after it is filed with the elections official as provided in this section.

(a) Notwithstanding Sections 10220 and 10224, if nomination papers for an incumbent officer of the city are not filed by or on the 88th day before the election, during normal business hours, as posted, the voters shall have until the 83rd day before the election during normal business hours, as posted, to nominate candidates other than the person who was the incumbent on the 88th day, for that incumbent's elective office.
  (b) This section is not applicable where there is no incumbent eligible to be elected. If this section is applicable, notwithstanding Section 10224, a candidate may withdraw his or her nomination paper until the 83rd day before the election during normal business hours, as posted.

The nomination papers and affidavits shall be substantially in the following form:

"NOMINATION PAPER We, the undersigned voters of the ____ of ____ hereby nominate ____ for the office of ____ of the city: Name Residence _____________________ __________________________ _____________________ __________________________ _____________________ __________________________

AFFIDAVIT OF THE CIRCULATOR State of California ) ss. County of _________ ) I, ______, solemnly swear (or affirm) all of the following: 1. That I am 18 years of age or older. 2. That my residence address, including street and number, is _________________________________________________. (If no street or number exists, a designation of my residence adequate to readily ascertain its location is ________________________________________________.) 3. That the signatures on this nomination paper were obtained between _____, 2__, and _____, 2__; that I circulated this petition and I saw the signatures on this section of the nomination papers being written; and that, to the best of my information and belief, each signature is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be. __________________________
  (Signature) I certify (or declare) under the penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed by me at ____, on ____, 2__.

AFFIDAVIT OF THE NOMINEE State of California ) ss. County of _________ ) ______ being duly sworn, says that he or she is the above-named nominee for the office of ____, that he or she will accept the office in the event of his or her election, that he or she desires his or her name to appear on the ballot as follows: __________________________
  (Print name above), and that he or she desires the following designation to appear on the ballot under his or her name: __________________________
  (Print desired designation above), and that his or her residence address is ________.
  (Print residence address as provided by affiant) I certify (or declare) under the penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed by me at ____, on ____, 2___."

All forms required for nomination and election to all municipal offices shall be furnished only by the city elections official during regular business hours. At the time of issuance of those forms the city elections official shall type in the forms the name of the candidate and the office for which he is a candidate, shall imprint a stamp which reads "Official Filing Form," and shall affix his or her signature. At the time nomination papers are issued to a candidate, the city elections official shall imprint the date. The forms shall be distributed without charge to all candidates applying for them.

A filing fee proportionate to the costs of processing a candidate's nomination papers or a candidate's supplemental nomination papers filed pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 10221 as determined by the city council and set by ordinance, but not exceeding twenty-five dollars ($25), may be imposed, to be paid upon the filing of the nomination papers.

(a) If, by the 88th day, during normal business hours as posted, prior to the day fixed for a regularly scheduled municipal election or the 83rd day before the election, during normal business hours as posted, if an incumbent fails to file pursuant to Section 10225, (i) no one or only one person has been nominated for any office that is elected on a citywide basis, or (ii) no one or only one person is nominated to be elected from or by a legislative district, or (iii) in the case of any office or offices to be elected at large, the number of persons who have been nominated for those offices does not exceed the number to be filled at that election; or, if, by the 88th day, during normal business hours as posted, before a municipal election to fill any vacancy in office, no one or only one person has been nominated for any elective office to be filled at that election, and the election is subject to Section 36512 of the Government Code, the city elections official shall submit a certificate of these facts to the governing body of the city and inform the governing body of the city that it may, at a regular or special meeting held before the municipal election, adopt one of the following courses of action:
  (1) Appoint to the office the person who has been nominated.
  (2) Appoint to the office an eligible elector if no one has been nominated.
  (3) Hold the election, if either no one or only one person has been nominated. The city elections official shall publish a notice of the facts described in this section and the courses of action available under this subdivision. Publication shall be made pursuant to Section 6061 of the Government Code in any newspaper of general circulation as designated by the city elections official. After the fifth day following the date of posting or publication, the governing body of the city may make the appointment or direct an election to be held in the affected territory. The person appointed, if any, shall qualify and take office and serve exactly as if elected at a municipal election for the office. Notwithstanding Section 10403, if, by the 75th day before the municipal election, no person has been appointed to office pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2), the election shall be held.
  (b) Subdivision (a) shall not apply if, at the regularly scheduled municipal election, more than one person has been nominated to another city office to be elected on a citywide basis or a city measure has qualified and is to be submitted to the voters at that municipal election.
  (c) Notwithstanding Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 8600) of Part 3 of Division 8, or any other provision of the law to the contrary, if the governing body of a city makes an appointment pursuant to subdivision (a), the elections official shall not accept for filing any statement of write-in candidacy that is submitted after the appointment is made.
  (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a city from enacting an ordinance pursuant to Section 36512 of the Government Code, requiring that a special election be held, or from enacting an ordinance pursuant to Section 36512 of the Government Code, providing that a person appointed to fill a vacancy on the city council shall hold office only until the date of the special election, or both. Any ordinance or ordinances may allow for appointment consistent with subdivision (a) without requiring or providing for a special election. If an appointment to office is made in a particular legislative district pursuant to subdivision (a), that appointment shall not affect the conduct of the municipal election in other legislative districts of the city.

If the date of a general municipal election is changed by municipal ordinance pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 10403.5 or by charter, the period to file as a candidate for the general municipal election shall be the same as the nomination period to file as a candidate for the election in which the general municipal election is consolidated, notwithstanding Section 10220.