(a) There shall be printed on the ballot in parallel columns all of the following:

(1) The respective offices.

Terms Used In California Elections Code 13207

  • 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

  • Measure: means any constitutional amendment or other proposition submitted to a popular vote at any election. See California Elections Code 329
  • Party: means a political party or organization that has qualified for participation in any primary or presidential general election. See California Elections Code 338

(2) The names of candidates with sufficient blank spaces to allow the voters to write in names not printed on the ballot, except that no spaces shall be printed for voter-nominated offices at a general election.

(3) Whatever measures have been submitted to the voters.

(b) In the case of a ballot which is intended for use in a party primary and which carries partisan offices, voter-nominated offices, and nonpartisan offices, a vertical solid black line shall divide the columns containing partisan offices, on the left, from the columns containing nonpartisan offices and voter-nominated offices, on the right.

(c) The standard width of columns containing partisan offices, nonpartisan offices, and voter-nominated offices, shall be three inches except that an elections official may vary the width of these columns by up to one inch. The column containing presidential and vice presidential candidates may be as wide as four inches.

(d) A measure that is to be submitted to the voters shall be printed in one or more parallel columns to the right of the columns containing the names of candidates and shall be of sufficient width to contain the title and summary of the measure. To the right of or below the title and summary shall be printed, on separate lines, the words “Yes” and “No.”

(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 57, Sec. 5. (AB 2835) Effective January 1, 2019.)