2010 California Code
Elections Code
Article 1. General Provisions

8000.  This chapter does not apply to:
   (a) Recall elections.
   (b) Presidential primary.
   (c) Nomination of officers of cities or counties whose charters
provide a system for nominating candidates for those offices.
   (d) Nomination of officers for any district not formed for
municipal purposes.
   (e) Nomination of officers for general law cities.
   (f) Nomination of school district officers.




8001.  (a) No declaration of candidacy for a partisan office or for
membership on a county central committee shall be filed, by a
candidate unless (1) at the time of presentation of the declaration
and continuously for not less than three months immediately prior to
that time, or for as long as he has been eligible to register to vote
in the state, the candidate is shown by his affidavit of
registration to be affiliated with the political party the nomination
of which he seeks, and (2) the candidate has not been registered as
affiliated with a qualified political party other than that political
party the nomination of which he seeks within 12 months, or, in the
case of an election governed by Chapter 1 (commencing with Section
10700) of Part 6 of Division 10, within three months immediately
prior to the filing of the declaration.
   (b) The elections official shall attach a certificate to the
declaration of candidacy showing the date on which the candidate
registered as intending to affiliate with the political party the
nomination of which he seeks, and indicating that the candidate has
not been affiliated with any other qualified political party for the
period specified in subdivision (a) immediately preceding the filing
of the declaration. This section shall not apply to declarations of
candidacy filed by a candidate of a political party participating in
its first direct primary election subsequent to its qualification as
a political party pursuant to Section 5100.



8002.  If a candidate is a candidate for a nonpartisan office, all
reference to party affiliation shall be omitted on all forms required
to be filed.


8002.5.  (a) A candidate for a voter-nominated office may indicate
his or her party preference, or lack of party preference, as
disclosed upon the candidate's most recent statement of registration,
upon his or her declaration of candidacy. If a candidate indicates
his or her party preference on his or her declaration of candidacy,
it shall appear on the primary and general election ballot in
conjunction with his or her name. The candidate's designated party
preference on the ballot shall not be changed between the primary and
general election. A candidate for voter-nominated office may also
choose not to have the party preference disclosed upon the candidate'
s most recent affidavit of registration indicated upon the ballot.
   (b) Regardless of the disclosed party preference of the candidate
or the voter, any qualified voter may vote for any candidate for a
voter-nominated office if the voter is otherwise entitled to vote for
candidates for the office to be filled. Nothing in Section 2151,
3006, 3007.5, 3205, or 3102 shall be construed to limit the ability
of a voter to cast a primary election ballot for any candidate for a
voter-nominated office, regardless of the party preference, or lack
of party preference, designated by the candidate for inclusion upon
the ballot pursuant to this section, provided that the voter is
otherwise qualified to cast a ballot for the office at issue.
   (c) A candidate designating a party preference pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall not be deemed to be the official nominee of the
party designated as preferred by the candidate. A candidate's
designation of party preference shall not be construed as an
endorsement of that candidate by the party designated. The party
preference designated by the candidate is shown for the information
of the voters only and may in no way limit the options available to
voters.
   (d) All references to party preference or affiliation shall be
omitted from all forms required to be filed by a voter-nominated
candidate pursuant to this division in the same manner that such
references are omitted from forms required to be filed by nonpartisan
candidates pursuant to Section 8002, except that the declaration of
candidacy required by Section 8040 shall include space for the
candidate to list the party preference disclosed upon the candidate's
most recent affidavit of registration, in accordance with subsection
(a).



8003.  This chapter does not prohibit the independent nomination of
candidates under Part 2 (commencing with Section 8300), subject to
the following limitations:
   (a) A candidate whose name has been on the ballot as a candidate
of a party at the direct primary and who has been defeated for that
party nomination is ineligible for nomination as an independent
candidate. He is also ineligible as a candidate named by a party
central committee to fill a vacancy on the ballot for a general
election.
   (b) No person may file nomination papers for a party nomination
and an independent nomination for the same office, or for more than
one office at the same election.



8004.  (a) In the event that no candidate files for a party's
nomination for any partisan office that would appear on the ballot in
a county or a political subdivision within that county, the
elections official shall do both of the following:
   (1) Refrain from printing a partisan ballot for that party in that
county or a political subdivision within that county in which there
are no candidates for that political party's nomination.
   (2) Send notification to those voters registered as affiliated
with that party that there were no qualified candidates for the
partisan office for which the voter is eligible to vote, together
with a nonpartisan ballot, unless, within 10 days after the final
date for filing nomination papers for the office, a petition
indicating that a write-in campaign will be conducted is filed with
the elections official and signed by 10 percent of the registered
voters, or 100 registered voters, whichever is less, affiliated with
that party within the county or a political subdivision within that
county, whichever is applicable.
   (b) A separate petition shall be filed for each specific office
for which a write-in campaign is to be conducted.



8005.  In addition to satisfying the requirements of Sections
9083.5, 9084.5, and 14105.1, the Secretary of State shall conduct
public voter education campaigns, using existing resources, for the
purpose of publicly disseminating information regarding the roles of
the parties in primary elections for party-nominated offices,
voter-nominated offices, and nonpartisan offices.