Amended in Assembly March 7, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 2152


Introduced by Assembly Member Gray

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Olsen)

(Coauthors: Senators Cannella and Galgiani)

February 17, 2016


An act to amend, repeal, and add Section 13109 of the Elections Code, relating to elections, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2152, as amended, Gray. Elections: ballots: ballot order.

Existing law requires all voting to be by ballot and requires each polling place to provide, at each election at which public officers are to be voted for, but one form of ballot for all candidates for public office, except for partisan primary elections, as specified. Existing law specifies the order of precedence of offices on the ballot and authorizes a county elections official to vary the order for certain offices and measures submitted to the voters, in order to allow for the most efficient use of space on the ballot in counties that use a voting system, as defined. Existing law requires state measures to always precede local measures.

This bill, for the November 8, 2016, statewide general election only, would authorize a county board of supervisors to direct the county elections official to place a local measure related tobegin delete aend delete local transportationbegin delete taxend deletebegin insert financeend insert above state measures.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Vote: 23. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 13109 of the Elections Code is amended
2to read:

3

13109.  

The order of precedence of offices on the ballot shall
4be as listed below for those offices and measures that apply to the
5election for which the ballot is provided. Beginning in the column
6to the left:

7(a) Under the heading, PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT:

8Nominees of the qualified political parties and independent
9nominees for President and Vice President.

10(b) Under the heading, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
11STATES:

12(1) Names of the presidential candidates to whom the delegates
13are pledged.

14(2) Names of the chairpersons of unpledged delegations.

15(c) Under the heading, STATE:

16(1) Governor.

17(2) Lieutenant Governor.

18(3) Secretary of State.

19(4) Controller.

20(5) Treasurer.

21(6) Attorney General.

22(7) Insurance Commissioner.

23(8) Member, State Board of Equalization.

24(d) Under the heading, UNITED STATES SENATOR:

25Candidates or nominees to the United States Senate.

26(e) Under the heading, UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE:

27Candidates or nominees to the House of Representatives of the
28United States.

29(f) Under the heading, STATE SENATOR:

30Candidates or nominees to the State Senate.

31(g) Under the heading, MEMBER OF THE STATE
32ASSEMBLY:

33Candidates or nominees to the Assembly.

34(h) Under the heading, COUNTY COMMITTEE:

35Members of the County Central Committee.

P3    1(i) Under the heading, JUDICIAL:

2(1) Chief Justice of California.

3(2) Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

4(3) Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal.

5(4) Associate Justice, Court of Appeal.

6(5) Judge of the Superior Court.

7(6) Marshal.

8(j) Under the heading, SCHOOL:

9(1) Superintendent of Public Instruction.

10(2) County Superintendent of Schools.

11(3) County Board of Education Members.

12(4) College District Governing Board Members.

13(5) Unifiedbegin insert Schoolend insert District Governing Board Members.

14(6) High School District Governing Board Members.

15(7) Elementarybegin insert Schoolend insert District Governing Board Members.

16(k) Under the heading, COUNTY:

17(1) County Supervisor.

18(2) Other offices in alphabetical order by the title of the office.

19(l) Under the heading, CITY:

20(1) Mayor.

21(2) Member, City Council.

22(3) Other offices in alphabetical order by the title of the office.

23(m) Under the heading, DISTRICT:

24Directors or trustees for each district in alphabetical order
25according to the name of the district.

26(n) Under the heading, MEASURES SUBMITTED TO THE
27VOTERS and the appropriate heading from subdivisions (a)
28through (m), above, ballot measures in the order, state through
29district shown above, and within each jurisdiction, in the order
30prescribed by the official certifyingbegin delete themend deletebegin insert the ballot measuresend insert for
31the ballot.

32(o) (1) In order to allow for the most efficient use of space on
33the ballot in counties that use a voting system, as defined in Section
34362, the county elections official may vary the order of
35subdivisionsbegin delete (j), (k), (end deletebegin deletelend deletebegin delete), (m), and (n)end deletebegin insert (j) to (n), inclusive,end insert as well
36as the order of offices within these subdivisions. However, the
37office of Superintendent of Public Instruction shall always precede
38any school, county, or city office, and state measures shall always
39precede local measures.

P4    1(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), for the November 8, 2016,
2statewide general election only, a county board of supervisors may
3direct the county elections official to place a local measure related
4tobegin delete aend delete local transportationbegin delete taxend deletebegin insert financeend insert above state measures.

5(p) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2017,
6and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
7is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends that date.

8

SEC. 2.  

Section 13109 is added to the Elections Code, to read:

9

13109.  

The order of precedence of offices on the ballot shall
10be as listed below for those offices and measures that apply to the
11election for which the ballot is provided. Beginning in the column
12to the left:

13(a) Under the heading, PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT:

14Nominees of the qualified political parties and independent
15nominees for President and Vice President.

16(b) Under the heading, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
17STATES:

18(1) Names of the presidential candidates to whom the delegates
19are pledged.

20(2) Names of the chairpersons of unpledged delegations.

21(c) Under the heading, STATE:

22(1) Governor.

23(2) Lieutenant Governor.

24(3) Secretary of State.

25(4) Controller.

26(5) Treasurer.

27(6) Attorney General.

28(7) Insurance Commissioner.

29(8) Member, State Board of Equalization.

30(d) Under the heading, UNITED STATES SENATOR:

31Candidates or nominees to the United States Senate.

32(e) Under the heading, UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE:

33Candidates or nominees to the House of Representatives of the
34United States.

35(f) Under the heading, STATE SENATOR:

36Candidates or nominees to the State Senate.

37(g) Under the heading, MEMBER OF THE STATE
38ASSEMBLY:

39Candidates or nominees to the Assembly.

40(h) Under the heading, COUNTY COMMITTEE:

P5    1Members of the County Central Committee.

2(i) Under the heading, JUDICIAL:

3(1) Chief Justice of California.

4(2) Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

5(3) Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal.

6(4) Associate Justice, Court of Appeal.

7(5) Judge of the Superior Court.

8(6) Marshal.

9(j) Under the heading, SCHOOL:

10(1) Superintendent of Public Instruction.

11(2) County Superintendent of Schools.

12(3) County Board of Education Members.

13(4) College District Governing Board Members.

14(5) Unifiedbegin insert Schoolend insert District Governing Board Members.

15(6) High School District Governing Board Members.

16(7) Elementarybegin insert Schoolend insert District Governing Board Members.

17(k) Under the heading, COUNTY:

18(1) County Supervisor.

19(2) Other offices in alphabetical order by the title of the office.

20(l) Under the heading, CITY:

21(1) Mayor.

22(2) Member, City Council.

23(3) Other offices in alphabetical order by the title of the office.

24(m) Under the heading, DISTRICT:

25Directors or trustees for each district in alphabetical order
26according to the name of the district.

27(n) Under the heading, MEASURES SUBMITTED TO THE
28VOTERS and the appropriate heading from subdivisions (a)
29through (m), above, ballot measures in the order, state through
30district shown above, and within each jurisdiction, in the order
31prescribed by the official certifyingbegin delete themend deletebegin insert the ballot measuresend insert for
32the ballot.

33(o) In order to allow for the most efficient use of space on the
34ballot in counties that use a voting system, as defined in Section
35362, the county elections official may vary the order of
36subdivisionsbegin delete (j), (k), (end deletebegin deletelend deletebegin delete), (m), and (n)end deletebegin insert (j) to (n), inclusive,end insert as well
37as the order of offices within these subdivisions. However, the
38office of Superintendent of Public Instruction shall always precede
39any school, county, or city office, and state measures shall always
40precede local measures.

P6    1(p) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2017.

2

SEC. 3.  

This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
3immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
4the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
5immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

6In order for county boards of supervisors and county elections
7officials to have sufficient time to implement the provisions of this
8billbegin delete prior toend deletebegin insert beforeend insert the November 8, 2016, statewide general
9election, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.



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