(a) (1) If a vacancy occurs, or if a resignation has been filed with the county superintendent of schools containing a deferred effective date, the school district or community college district governing board shall, within 60 days of the vacancy or the filing of the deferred resignation, either order an election or make a provisional appointment to fill the vacancy. A governing board member may not defer the effective date of the member’s resignation for more than 60 days after the member files the resignation with the county superintendent of schools.

(2) In the event that a governing board fails to make a provisional appointment or order an election within the prescribed 60-day period as required by this section, the county superintendent of schools shall order an election to fill the vacancy.

(b) When an election is ordered, it shall be held on the next established election date provided pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1000) of Division 1 of the Elections Code not less than 130 days after the order of the election.

(c) (1) If a provisional appointment is made within the 60-day period, the registered voters of the district may, within 30 days from the date of the appointment, petition for the conduct of a special election to fill the vacancy. A petition shall be deemed to bear a sufficient number of signatures if signed by at least the number of registered voters of the district equal to 1¹/₂ percent of the number of registered voters of the district at the time of the last regular election for governing board members, or 25 registered voters, whichever is greater. However, in districts with less than 2,000 registered voters, a petition shall be deemed to bear a sufficient number of signatures if signed by at least 5 percent of the number of registered voters of the district at the time of the last regular election for governing board members.

(2) (A) The petition shall be submitted to the county superintendent of schools having jurisdiction who shall have 30 days to verify the signatures. If the petition is determined to be legally sufficient by the county superintendent of schools, the provisional appointment is terminated, and the county superintendent of schools shall order a special election to be conducted not less than 88, nor more than 125, days following the order of the election.

(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the election may be conducted within 180 days after the issuance of the order so that the election may be consolidated with a regularly scheduled election.

(3) For purposes of this section, “registered voters” means the following:

(A) If the district uses the at-large method of election, as defined in subdivision (a) of § 14026 of the Elections Code, registered voters of the entire school district or community college district.

(B) If the district uses district-based elections, as defined in subdivision (b) of § 14026 of the Elections Code, registered voters of the election district.

(d) A provisional appointment made pursuant to subdivision (a) confers all powers and duties of a governing board member upon the appointee immediately following that appointment.

(e) A person appointed to fill a vacancy shall hold office only until the next regularly scheduled election for district governing board members that is scheduled 130 or more days after the effective date of the vacancy, whereupon an election shall be held to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term. A person elected at an election to fill the vacancy shall hold office for the remainder of the term in which the vacancy occurs or will occur.

(f) (1) If a petition calling for a special election is circulated, the petition shall meet all of the following requirements:

(A) The petition shall contain the election official’s estimate of the cost of conducting the special election and those estimated costs expressed on a per-pupil or per-student basis.

(B) The name and residence address of at least one, but not more than five, of the proponents of the petition shall appear on the petition, each of which proponents shall be a registered voter of the school district or community college district, as applicable.

(C) None of the text or other language of the petition shall appear in less than six-point type.

(D) The petition shall be prepared and circulated in conformity with Sections 100 and 104 of the Elections Code.

(2) If any of the requirements of this subdivision are not met as to any petition calling for a special election, the county superintendent of schools shall not verify the signatures, nor shall any further action be taken with respect to the petition.

(3) No person shall permit the list of names on petitions prescribed by this section to be used for any purpose other than qualification of the petition for the purpose of holding an election pursuant to this section.

(4) The petition filed with the county superintendent of schools shall be subject to the restrictions in Article 2 (commencing with Section 7924.100) of Chapter 2 of Part 5 of Division 10 of Title 1 of the Government Code.

(g) Elections held pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c) shall be conducted in as nearly the same manner as practicable as other governing board member elections.

(Amended (as amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 615, Sec. 60) by Stats. 2022, Ch. 831, Sec. 1. (SB 1061) Effective January 1, 2023.)