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Chapter 4. Formation Election of California Water Code >> Division 21. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 4.
When the boundaries of the proposed district are defined and
established by the board of supervisors, it shall make an order
dividing the district into three, five, or seven divisions, as
requested in the formation petition. Such divisions shall be as
nearly equal in area as practicable and shall be numbered
consecutively.
One director, who shall be an elector of the division, shall
be elected from each division by vote of the electors of the
division in which such director resides. In order to qualify to be
elected a director, a person shall be a qualified elector of the
district and shall be a resident of the county, or of one of the
counties, in which the district is situated.
When the order dividing the proposed district into divisions
has been made, the board of supervisors shall call an election
within the proposed district to determine whether the district shall
be formed and also to elect the first board of directors if the
district is formed.
The formation election shall be held on the next established
election date not less than 74 days after the date of filing the
formation petition.
The board of supervisors shall divide the district, and the
divisions thereof, into convenient precincts and fix a polling place
in each precinct. There shall be at least one precinct in each
division of the district.
The board of supervisors shall appoint an inspector, a
judge, and two clerks for each of the precincts established to
conduct the election. The inspector, judge, and clerks of election in
each precinct shall constitute the board of election for such
precinct.
If the board of election, or any member thereof, fails to appear
at the opening of the polls on the morning of the election, the
electors of the precinct present at that hour may appoint a board or
supply the place of an absent member thereof.
The inspector shall be chairman of the election board, and
may appoint judges and clerks, if, during the progress of the
election, any judge or clerk cease to act. The chairman or any member
of the board of election may administer and certify oaths required
to be administered during the progress of the election.
The formation election shall be called by publication of
notice thereof in a daily or weekly paper in each of the counties in
which the district is situated, if there is one, at least once a week
for three weeks previous to the election, and by posting notice
thereof in three public places.
The notice of the formation election shall designate a name
for the proposed district and describe the boundaries thereof. The
notice shall also designate the respective election precincts and the
polling place in each, the election officers, the time of the
election, and the hours during which the polls will be kept open;
provided, that the polls shall be opened not later than 8 o'clock
a.m. and kept open until 7 o'clock p.m.
The board of supervisors shall require the clerk of the
board to provide and furnish ballots for the formation election. No
particular form of ballot shall be required except that the ballot
shall contain the words "Water conservation district--Yes" or "Water
conservation district--No," or words equivalent thereto, and shall
also contain the names of candidates for the position of director of
the district who shall have been endorsed by petitions to the board
of supervisors in the manner prescribed in Section 74100.
A nominating petition for a director in any division shall
be signed by 10 or more electors entitled to vote in such division
and shall be filed with the board of supervisors calling the
formation election within 15 days from the first publication of the
notice calling the election.
The ballots shall contain instructions that the voters shall
write, print, or stamp a cross after the words that indicate his
choice.
The ballots shall contain as many blank spaces for the names
of directors as there are directors to be elected, and the writing
of the name of any qualified person in any of the spaces shall be
deemed to be a vote for such person.
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the formation
election shall be conducted in accordance with the general election
laws of this state so far as applicable.
The election officers shall publicly count the votes
immediately after the close of the formation election, and shall make
a report of the result of the election to the board of supervisors
within five days subsequent to the holding thereof.
The board of supervisors shall, on the first Monday
succeeding the formation election, if then in session, or at its next
meeting, general or special, proceed to canvass the votes cast at
the election.
Where a vote to form a district is lost, no petition for the
formation of a district comprising any portion of the same territory
shall be presented or considered for a period of 12 months
thereafter.
