WRITE-IN CANDIDACY

 

Filing Period – September 11 – October 24

Write-In Procedure

Persons who did not file a Declaration of Candidacy and fulfill their nomination requirements to place their name on the ballot may run for office as a write-in candidate. Write-in votes will be counted and certified in the Statement of Vote only for qualified write-in candidates who file the required forms with the Elections Department no later than 14 days prior to Election Day. The Elections Department will forward the forms to the Secretary of State in the case of offices that must be certified by the Secretary of State.

Voters may write-in any person they wish for any office regardless of whether the person has qualified or not. However, the votes will only be tabulated for qualified write-in candidates.

To qualify as a write-in candidate, a person must file with the Elections Department the following documents:

  • A "Statement of Write-in Candidacy" which shall contain the candidate's name, residence address, a declaration stating that he or she is a write-in candidate, the title of the office for which he or she is running and the date of the election.

Write-in candidates are subject to the same requirements as other candidates with regard to disclosure of economic interests and campaign disclosure. (Gov. Code §82007; Elections Code §305)

The Elections Department will provide polling places with a list of qualified write-in candidates.

Offices Omitted From the Ballot

Prospective write-in candidates should note that write-in candidacy is possible only if the office appears on the ballot. The following offices will be omitted from the ballot if the number of persons qualifying for the ballot does not exceed the number of places to be filled: County Board of Education, school districts, special districts and city councils under certain circumstances. There is provision in the law, however, to require that the office be placed on the ballot by means of a petition procedure. (Elections Code §7228,7423, 7673, 8203; Ed. Code §5326)

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