Article 1. General Provisions of California Water Code >> Division 13. >> Part 4. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 1.

Each voter shall have one vote for each dollar's worth of land to which he or she holds title. The last equalized assessment book of the district is conclusive evidence of ownership and of the value of the land so owned except that in the event that an assessment for a district shall not have been made and levied for the year in which the election is held, the last assessment roll of each affected county shall be used in lieu of the assessment book of the district as evidence of ownership. However, the board may determine by resolution that the assessment book or assessment roll of each affected county shall be corrected to reflect, in the case of transfers of land, those persons who as of the 45th day prior to the election appear as owners on the records of the county. If an equalized assessment book of the district does not exist, then each voter shall be entitled to cast one vote for each acre owned by the voter within the district, provided that if the voter owns less than one acre then the voter shall be entitled to one vote and any fraction shall be rounded to the nearest full acre.

A district may, by ordinance adopted at least 90 days prior to any district election, determine that voters shall thereafter be ascertained pursuant to this section. In that event, the county elections official shall prepare the voter list required by Section 10525 of the Elections Code based upon the last equalized assessment roll of each affected county corrected to reflect, in the case of transfers of land, those persons who as of the 45th day prior to the election appear as owners on the records in the office of the county assessor which the assessor will use to prepare the next ensuing equalized assessment roll and which shall be conclusive evidence of ownership and of the value of land so owned. Where only a portion of a parcel of land has been transferred, and the assessed value thereof and of the remaining parcel are not separately stated upon the roll, estimated assessed values therefor shall be made by the county assessor, and the estimates shall, for the purposes of this section, be considered the value of the land. If more than one person or entity are shown as the owners of record of a parcel of land, the county elections official shall apportion the voting rights between the owners based upon the respective record interests in the information with respect thereto as the county elections official deems correct, proper, and appropriate.

Every voter, or his legal representative, may vote at any district election either in person or by a person duly appointed as his proxy.

No appointment of a proxy shall be valid, accepted, or vote allowed thereon at any district election unless it meets all of the following requirements:
  (a) It is in writing.
  (b) It is executed by the person or legal representative of the person who, in accordance with the provisions of Sections 35003 or 35003.1 is entitled to the votes for which the proxy is given.
  (c) It is acknowledged or certified in accordance with Section 2015.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
  (d) It specifies the election at which it is to be used. An appointment of a proxy shall be used only at the election specified.
  (e) It shall be on a form as specified by the county elections official meeting the above requirements. Every appointment of a proxy is revocable at the pleasure of the person executing it at any time before the person appointed as proxy shall have cast a ballot representing the votes for which the appointment was given.

Before a legal representative votes at a district election he shall present to the precinct board a certified copy of his authority which shall be kept and filed with the returns of the election.