Chapter 1. Voters And Qualifications of California Water Code >> Division 14. >> Part 4. >> Chapter 1.

Only the holders of title to land are entitled to vote at a general election.

Each voter may vote in each precinct in which any of the land owned by him is situated and may cast one vote for each one hundred dollars ($100), or fraction thereof, worth of his land, exclusive of improvements, minerals, and mineral rights therein, in the precinct.

Each male or female voter over the age of 18 years may vote in person or by proxy.

Any guardian, conservator, administrator, or executor, of a person or estate owning land within the district shall be considered the holder of title to land for the purposes of this division, where the owner in fee is not entitled to vote.

Any corporation holding title to land within the district is entitled to vote through any officer or agent authorized in writing under the seal of the corporation.

No person shall vote by proxy unless his authority to cast such vote is evidenced by an instrument acknowledged and filed with the board of election.

Notwithstanding the provisions of any other section of this division, if a holder of title to land enters into a contract for the sale of the land on deferred installments of the purchase price, the purchaser named in the contract is entitled to cast one-half of the vote allotted to such land at any district election if all the following have occurred:
  (a) The land is separately assessed on the county assessment roll.
  (b) A copy of the contract of sale is filed with the secretary at least 30 days prior to the date of the election.
  (c) The purchaser is not delinquent for more than six months in the payment of any sums required to be paid under the contract. For the purposes of this section, the county assessor shall, at the request of any purchaser, separately assess and separately list all such lands upon the assessment roll.

At least 20 days prior to any district election, the secretary shall prepare a list for each precinct showing:
  (a) The names of the holders of title to land who enter into contracts of sale, as shown by the copies of the contracts on file in his office.
  (b) The name of the purchaser.
  (c) A description of the land subject to each contract.

Each precinct list shall be delivered to the election board for the precinct prior to the election.

At least five days prior to each election, the secretary shall notify in writing each holder of title to land named as the seller in any contract on file in his office that the contract has been filed.

Any person entitled to vote at a district election may challenge the right of a purchaser to vote in accordance with the provisions of Section 41006. Challenges shall be made and determined as nearly as practicable in the manner provided by the Elections Code.

Where property has been conveyed prior to the election and the change of interest does not appear by the assessment roll, the original deed of conveyance or a copy thereof certified by the county recorder, or otherwise authenticated, shall be sufficient evidence to entitle the holder thereof to vote the acreage therein described.

Any person not legally qualified to vote who makes any false statement in respect to his right to vote shall incur all of the penalties provided in the Elections Code for persons illegally voting at elections.

The department prior to the formation election, and at all subsequent elections the board, shall prepare, certify, and furnish to the election board at each voting place in the district a copy of each of the assessment rolls pertaining to any land in the precinct or, if applicable, the election roll prepared in accordance with Section 41027.

The department or the board shall likewise prepare and furnish to the election boards lists certified by the register of the United States Land Office or the State Lands Commission, as the case may be, showing the land entered under the laws of the United States or of the State.

The lists shall contain the names of the persons entitled to possessory rights and the quantity of land held by each.

The most recent county assessment rolls and lists, or, if applicable, the election roll prepared in accordance with Section 41027, shall be used by the election boards in determining the qualifications of voters and the number of votes each voter is entitled to cast.

Where a tract of land is situated partly within and partly without the boundaries of a precinct and the assessment roll contains a valuation of the tract as a whole, the tract must be apportioned according to the number of acres lying within and without the boundaries of the precinct.

If there is included in any assessment roll or list furnished to an election board any land which has no valuation assigned to it, the department or the board, as the case may be, shall request the county assessor to value the land and the county assessor shall prepare and furnish to the department or board requesting it a statement of the value of the land as appraised by him.

The value shall be arrived at as nearly as may be done in the same manner and upon the same basis as was the valuation for purposes of taxation assessed upon other lands in the precinct similarly situated.

The valuation made by the county assessor shall be furnished to the election board of the precinct in which the land is situated and shall be used by the election board in determining the number of votes which the holder of title to the land is entitled to cast.