Article 4. Election of California Public Utilities Code >> Division 6. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 4.

Upon receipt of certified copies of the resolutions or of a sufficient petition, the board of supervisors to whom they are presented shall call an election within the proposed district without delay, to be held on the next established election date not less than 74 days after the date of the order calling the election, for the purpose of determining whether the proposed district will be created and established, and for the purpose of electing the first board of directors therefor in case the district is created.

Before calling the election the board of supervisors shall divide the proposed district into five wards, the boundaries of which shall be so drawn that each shall contain approximately an equal number of voters, as nearly as may be. The public agencies and any other territory included in the proposed district may be divided for the purpose of establishing ward boundaries.

Upon establishing the wards, the board of supervisors shall publish notice of the election within the proposed district.

Within five days after the district formation election has been called, the legislative body which has called the election shall transmit, by registered mail, a written notification of the election call to the executive officer of the local agency formation commission of the county or principal county in which the territory or major portion of the territory of the proposed district is located. Such written notice shall include the name and a description of the proposed district, and may be in the form of a certified copy of the resolution adopted by the legislative body calling the district formation election. The executive officer, within five days after being notified that a district formation election has been called, shall submit to the commission, for its approval or modification, an impartial analysis of the proposed district formation. The impartial analysis shall not exceed 500 words in length and shall include a specific description of the boundaries of the district proposed to be formed. The local agency formation commission, within five days after the receipt of the executive officer's analysis, shall approve or modify the analysis and submit it to the officials in charge of conducting the district formation election.

The board of supervisors or any member or members of the board authorized by the board, or any individual voter or bona fide association of citizens entitled to vote on the district formation proposition, or any combination of such voters and associations of citizens, may file a written argument for or a written argument against the proposed district formation. Arguments shall not exceed 300 words in length and shall be filed with the officials in charge of conducting the election not less than 54 days prior to the date of the district formation election.

If more than one argument for or more than one argument against the proposed district formation is filed with the election officials within the time prescribed, such election officials shall select one of the arguments for printing and distribution to the voters. In selecting the arguments, the election officials shall give preference and priority in the order named to the arguments of the following:
  (a) The board of supervisors or any member or members of the board authorized by the board.
  (b) Individual voters or bona fide associations of citizens or a combination of such voters and associations.

The officials in charge of conducting the election shall cause a ballot pamphlet concerning the district formation proposition to be voted on to be printed and mailed to each voter entitled to vote on the district formation question. The ballot pamphlet shall contain the following in the order prescribed:
  (a) The complete text of the proposition.
  (b) The impartial analysis of the proposition prepared by the local agency formation commission.
  (c) The argument for the proposed district formation.
  (d) The argument against the proposed district formation. The election officials shall mail a ballot pamphlet to each voter entitled to vote in the district formation election at least 10 days prior to the date of the election. The ballot pamphlet is "official matter" within the meaning of Section 13303 of the Elections Code.

The notice shall state the name of the proposed district, and describe the boundaries thereof and the boundaries of the wards provided for the purpose of electing directors.

The ballot for the election shall contain such instructions as are required by law to be printed thereon and in addition thereto the following:

------------------------------------+-------+----- | | Shall the " (giving name thereof) | YES | municipal utility district" be | | created and established? +-------+----- | NO | ------------------------------------+-------+-----

The ballots shall also contain the names of the persons nominated in each ward to serve as a member of the board from such ward, showing separately each ward and its nominees.

Any person may be nominated for the office of director upon written petition of at least 50 voters of the ward in which such person resides.

Candidates for the office of director shall be voted upon at large, and every voter in the proposed district may vote for all of the directors to be elected.

No person shall be entitled to vote at the election unless he is a voter of the territory included in the proposed district.

The election may be held on the same day as any other state, county, or city election, and be consolidated therewith.

The board of supervisors which called the election shall meet on Monday next succeeding the day of the election and canvass the votes cast thereat.

(a) The board of supervisors shall canvass, separately, the returns of each public agency and each parcel of unincorporated territory, if any.
  (b) Subject to subdivision (c), the board of supervisors shall declare a district created and established of those public agencies and parcels of unincorporated territory in which a majority of those persons who voted did so in favor of the creation of the district. Those public agencies and parcels of unincorporated territory in which a majority of those persons voting did not vote in favor of the creation of the district shall be excluded from the district.
  (c) A district may be created and established pursuant to subdivision (b) only if the number of registered voters in the approving public agencies and parcels of unincorporated territory is two-thirds or more of the total number of registered voters within the district as proposed to the voters.

No person may serve as a director unless he is a resident and voter of the district as finally determined. Any vacancies on the board caused by the elimination of territory shall be filled by appointment by the remaining directors, in which case ward lines may be disregarded.

The board of supervisors shall also canvass the returns of the election with respect to the persons voted for as directors, and shall declare the persons receiving the highest number of votes, for each ward, respectively, to be duly elected as directors of the district, if they are residents and voters thereof as finally determined.

The board of supervisors calling the election shall make all provision for the holding thereof throughout the entire district as proposed, and shall pay the cost thereof.

If a special election is held exclusively on the proposition of organizing a district, the expenditure therefor shall be reimbursed to the county which called the election by means of a tax on all the taxable property within the public agencies and unincorporated territory which was proposed to be included in the district, and this tax shall be added to the next county tax bills by the proper officials of the counties involved, respectively.