Terms Used In California Codes > Elections Code > Division 9 > Chapter 1 > Article 1 - Initiative and Referendum Petitions

• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Ballot title and summary: means , for a statewide initiative measure or measure proposed by the Legislature, the summary of the chief purpose and points including the fiscal impact summary of any measure that appears in the state voter information guide. See California Elections Code 303.5
• Bushy Lake: means a body of water in the Bushy Lake area with approximately 11 acres of water surface in the summer and approximately 80 acres in the winter. See California Public Resources Code 5831
• Bushy Lake area: means that portion of the California Exposition flood plain bounded by the continuous line enclosing Bushy Lake, which line is 100 feet outside the 25-foot elevation contour line as limited on the north side by the waterside toe of the levee and as limited on the west side by a line 100 feet east of State Highway Route 80 as it exists on January 1, 1977. See California Public Resources Code 5831
• California Exposition flood plain: means that portion of state-owned California Exposition land in the American River flood plain as it exists on January 1, 1977. See California Public Resources Code 5831
• Circulating title and summary: means the text that is required to be placed on a petition for signatures that is either one of the following:

  California Elections Code 303.5

• City: includes "city and county" and "incorporated town" but does not include "unincorporated town" or "village. See California Government Code 20
• compensation: means the remuneration paid out of funds controlled by the employer in payment for the member's services performed during normal working hours or for time during which the member is excused from work because of any of the following:

  California Government Code 20630

• County: includes "city and county. See California Public Resources Code 14
• County: includes city and county. See California Government Code 19
• disaster: means a war or enemy-caused calamity, such as an attack by nuclear weapons, which renders unavailable the Lieutenant Governor, or the Attorney General, or the Secretary of State, or the Treasurer, or the Controller. See California Government Code 12700
• District: means any regional park or open-space district formed pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 5500) of Chapter 3 of Division 5 and any recreation and park district formed pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 5780) of Division 5. See California Public Resources Code 5902
• 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

• elective officer: includes any officer of the Senate or Assembly who is elected by vote of the members of either or both of the houses of the Legislature, and any appointive officer of a city or county occupying a fixed term of office, as well as officers of the state or contracting agencies elected by the people, and persons elected to a city council or a county board of supervisors. See California Government Code 20322
• Fund: means the California Wildlife, Coastal, and Park Land Conservation Fund of 1988 created pursuant to Section 5906. See California Public Resources Code 5902
• General election: means either of the following:

  California Elections Code 324

• Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
• Historical resource: includes , but is not limited to, any building, structure, site areas, or place which is historically or archeologically significant, or is significant in the architectural, engineering, scientific, economic, agricultural, educational, social, political, military, or cultural annals of California. See California Public Resources Code 5902
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Local coastal program: means any program created under Section 30108. See California Public Resources Code 5902
• Measure: means any constitutional amendment or other proposition submitted to a popular vote at any election. See California Elections Code 329
• Natural lands: means an area of relatively undeveloped land which (1) has substantially retained its characteristics as provided by nature or has been substantially restored, or which can be feasibly restored, to a near-natural condition, and which has outstanding wildlife, scenic, open-space, or park resources, or a combination thereof, or (2) meets the definition of open-space land in §. See California Public Resources Code 5902
• Nonprofit organization: means any charitable organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code, which has among its primary purposes the conservation and preservation of wetlands or of lands predominantly in their natural, scenic, historical, agricultural, forested, or open-space condition. See California Public Resources Code 5902
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oath: includes affirmation. See California Government Code 15
• Park: means a tract of land with outstanding scenic, natural, open-space, or recreational values, set apart to conserve natural, scenic, cultural, or ecological resources for present and future generations, and to be used by the public as a place for rest, recreation, education, exercise, inspiration, or enjoyment. See California Public Resources Code 5902
• Person: includes any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, limited liability company, business trust, corporation, or company. See California Government Code 17
• Process: includes a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings of either a civil or criminal nature. See California Government Code 22
• Riparian habitat: means lands that contain habitat which grows close to and which depends upon soil moisture from a nearby freshwater source. See California Public Resources Code 5902
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Special election: is a n election, the specific time for the holding of which is not prescribed by law. See California Elections Code 356
• Spouse: includes "registered domestic partner" as required by §. See California Government Code 12.2
• state agency: includes every state office, officer, department, division, bureau, board, and commission. See California Government Code 11000
• Statewide election: is a n election held throughout the state. See California Elections Code 357
• Stewardship: means the development and implementation of major programs for the protection, rehabilitation, restoration, and enhancement of the basic natural systems and outstanding scenic features of the state park system. See California Public Resources Code 5902
• Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which the term occurs unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Government Code 10
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Unavailable: means that any such officer is either killed, missing, or so seriously injured as to be unable to perform that officer's duties. See California Government Code 12700
• Voter: means any elector who is registered under this code. See California Elections Code 359
• Wetlands: means lands which may be covered periodically or permanently with shallow water and which include saltwater marshes, freshwater marshes, open or closed brackish water marshes, swamps, mudflats, fens, and vernal pools. See California Public Resources Code 5902