California Elections Code 8700 – (a) FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATES; BALLOT ACCESS. …
(a) FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATES; BALLOT ACCESS. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of State, or other elections official authorized by law, shall not accept or verify the signatures on any nomination paper for any person, nor shall he or she certify or place on the list of certified candidates, nor print or cause to be printed on any ballot, ballot pamphlet, sample ballot, or ballot label the name of any person, who does either of the following:
(1) Seeks to become a candidate for a seat in the United States House of Representatives, and who, by the end of the then current term of office will have served, or but for resignation would have served, as a member of the United States House of Representatives representing any portion or district of the State of California during six or more of the previous eleven years;
Terms Used In California Elections Code 8700
- Ballot label: means :
California Elections Code 303
- candidate: includes any officeholder who is subject to a recall election. See California Elections Code 305
- Election: means any election including a primary that is provided for under this code. See California Elections Code 318
- Elections official: means any of the following:
California Elections Code 320
- Voter: means any elector who is registered under this code. See California Elections Code 359
(2) Seeks to become a candidate for a seat in the United States Senate, and who, by the end of the then current term of office will have served, or but for resignation would have served, as a member of the United States Senate representing the State of California during twelve or more of the previous seventeen years.
(b) “WRITE-IN” CANDIDACIES. Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing or prohibiting any qualified voter of this state from casting a ballot for any person by writing the name of that person on the ballot, or from having such a ballot counted or tabulated, nor shall any provision of this section be construed as preventing or prohibiting any person from standing or campaigning for any elective office by means of a “write-in” campaign.
(c) CONSTRUCTION. Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing or prohibiting the name of any person from appearing on the ballot at any direct primary or general election unless that person is specifically prohibited from doing so by the provisions of subdivision (a), and to that end, the provisions of subdivision (a) shall be strictly construed.
(Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2. Note: This section is the reenactment of Section 25003 as added on Nov. 3, 1992, by initiative Prop. 164 (The California Term Limitations Act of 1992).)