2022 California Code
Elections Code - ELEC
DIVISION 9 - MEASURES SUBMITTED TO THE VOTERS
CHAPTER 1 - State Elections
ARTICLE 5 - Ballot Titles
Section 9051.

9051. (a) (1) The ballot title and summary may differ from the legislative, circulating, or other title and summary of the measure and shall not exceed 100 words, not including the fiscal impact statement.

(2) The ballot title and summary shall include a summary of the Legislative Analyst’s estimate of the net state and local government fiscal impact prepared pursuant to Section 9087 of this code and Section 88003 of the Government Code.

(b) The condensed ballot title and summary shall not contain more than 75 words and shall be a condensed version of the ballot title and summary including the financial impact summary prepared pursuant to Section 9087 of this code and Section 88003 of the Government Code.

(c) (1) The ballot label shall include the condensed ballot title and summary described in subdivision (b), followed by the following:

(A) After the text “Supporters:”, a listing of nonprofit organizations, businesses, or individuals taken from the signers or the text of the argument in favor of the ballot measure printed in the state voter information guide. The list of supporters shall not exceed 125 characters in length. Each supporter shall be separated by a semicolon. A nonprofit organization, business, or individual shall not be listed unless they support the ballot measure.

(B) After the text “Opponents:”, a listing of nonprofit organizations, businesses, or individuals taken from the signers or the text of the argument against the ballot measure printed in the state voter information guide. The list of opponents shall not exceed 125 characters in length. Each opponent shall be separated by a semicolon. A nonprofit organization, business, or individual shall not be listed unless they oppose the ballot measure.

(C) A supporter or opponent shall not be listed pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (B) unless it is one of the following:

(i) A nonprofit organization that was not originally created as a committee described in Section 82013 of the Government Code, that has been in existence for at least four years, and that, during the four-year period prior to the time that the organization is listed pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (B), either has received contributions from more than 500 donors or has had at least one full-time employee.

(ii) A business that has been in existence for at least four years and that has had at least one full-time employee during the four-year period prior to the time that the organization is listed pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (B).

(iii) A current or former elected official, who may be listed with the official’s title (e.g., “State Senator Mary Smith,” “Assembly Member Carlos Garcia,” or “former Eureka City Council Member Amy Lee”). These titles may be shortened (e.g. “Senator” or “Sen.” for “State Senator” or “Asm.” for “Assembly Member”).

(iv) An individual who is not a current or former elected official may be listed only with the individual’s first and last name and an honorific (e.g., “Dr.,” “M.D.,” “Ph.D.,” or “Esquire”), with no other title or designation, unless it is a title representing a nonprofit organization or business that meets the requirements of clause (i) or (ii) and that is eligible to be listed under subparagraph (A) if the individual supports the ballot measure or under subparagraph (B) if the individual opposes the ballot measure.

(D) Spaces, commas, semicolons, and any other characters count towards the 125-character limit in subparagraphs (A) and (B).

(E) A supporter or opponent shall not be listed pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (B) if the supporter or opponent is a political party or is representing a political party.

(F) The name of a nonprofit organization or business included in the list of supporters and opponents as required by this subdivision may be shortened by the proponents or opponents who submit it using acronyms, abbreviations, or by leaving out words in the entity’s name, as long as doing so would not confuse voters with another well-known organization or business that did not take the same position on the ballot measure (e.g., “Hot Air Balloon Flyers of Montana Education Fund” may be shortened to “Hot Air Balloons Montana”).

(G) Supporters and opponents listed on the ballot label pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (B) shall be added as text after the condensed ballot title and summary and shall be separated by semicolons. Supporters and opponents need not be displayed on separate horizontal lines on the ballot. If no list of supporters is provided by the proponents or there are none that meet the requirements of this section, then “Supporters:” shall be followed by “None submitted.” If no list of opponents is provided by the opponents or there are none that meet the requirements of this section, then “Opponents:” shall be followed by “None submitted.”

(H) If the ballot emphasizes the text “Supporters:” or “Opponents:” by use of boldface font, underlining, or any other method that differentiates that text from the list of supporters or opponents that follow, the text “Supporters:” or “Opponents:” may be displayed with only the initial letter capitalized. If that text is not emphasized, then each letter of that text shall be capitalized.

(I) If including the list of Supporters and Opponents in the ballot labels as required by this section would necessitate the printing of an extra ballot card compared to the ballot labels not including them, the type size of the part of all of the ballot labels starting with “Supporters:” may be reduced by the minimal amount needed to stop them from necessitating an extra ballot card, as long as the type size is no smaller than 8-point and as long as the type size is reduced by the same amount for all ballot measures.

(2) (A) The proponents of the measure shall provide the list of supporters described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) to the Secretary of State when submitting the arguments supporting the ballot measure.

(i) For every supporter listed that is a nonprofit organization, a business, or an individual whose title includes a nonprofit organization or business, the supporters shall include a signed statement by a representative of the nonprofit organization or business, under penalty of perjury, that includes its name and business address and that attests (I) that the nonprofit organization or business supports the measure, (II) that the nonprofit organization or business has been in existence for at least four years, (III) that the nonprofit organization or business has had at least one full-time employee for the last four years, or, if it is a nonprofit organization, that it has had at least 500 donors in the last four years, and (IV) that it was not originally created as a committee described in Section 82013 of the Government Code.

(ii) For every supporter listed that is an individual, the proponents shall include a signed statement by the individual that includes the individual’s name and address and attests that the individual supports the measure.

(B) The opponents of the measure shall provide the list of opponents described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) to the Secretary of State when submitting the arguments opposing the ballot measure.

(i)  For every opponent listed that is a nonprofit organization, a business, or an individual whose title includes a nonprofit organization or business, the opponents shall include a signed statement by a representative of the nonprofit organization or business, under penalty of perjury, that includes its name and business address and that attests (I) that the nonprofit organization or business opposes the measure, (II) that the nonprofit organization or business has been in existence for at least four years, (III) that the nonprofit organization or business has had at least one full-time employee for the last four years, or, if it is a nonprofit organization, that it has had at least 500 donors in the last four years, and (IV) that it was not originally created as a committee described in Section 82013 of the Government Code.

(ii) For every opponent listed that is an individual, the opponents shall include a signed statement by the individual that includes the individual’s name and address and attests that the individual opposes the measure.

(C) In order to enable the Secretary of State to determine whether the nonprofit organizations and businesses listed in the supporters or opponents have been in existence for at least four years, the proponents and opponents shall submit with the list of supporters and opponents described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) a certified copy of the articles of incorporation, articles of organization, or similar document for each nonprofit organization or business on the list that verifies that the nonprofit organization or business has been in existence for at least four years.

(D) The Secretary of State shall confirm that a submission listing supporters or opponents includes the documentation required by subparagraphs (A) through (C) and otherwise meets the requirements of this section. The Secretary of State shall ask the proponents or opponents to resubmit a list if the requirements are not met. The Secretary of State may establish deadlines by when proponents or opponents must resubmit a list and any other documents required by the Secretary of State to meet the deadline in subdivision (b) of Section 9050.

(d) In providing the ballot title and summary, the Attorney General shall give a true and impartial statement of the purpose of the measure in such language that the ballot title and summary shall neither be an argument, nor be likely to create prejudice, for or against the proposed measure.

(e) The Attorney General shall invite and consider public comment in preparing each ballot title and summary.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 751, Sec. 5. (AB 1416) Effective January 1, 2023.)