The following shall appear on the ballots at every recall election, except in the case of a landowner voting district, with respect to each officer sought to be recalled:

(a) The question “Shall [name of officer sought to be recalled] be recalled (removed) from the office of [title of office]?”

Terms Used In California Elections Code 11320

  • Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
  • Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
  • 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

  • Party: means a political party or organization that has qualified for participation in any primary or presidential general election. See California Elections Code 338
  • Voter-nominated office: means a congressional or state elective office for which a candidate may choose to have his or her party preference or lack of party preference indicated upon the ballot. See California Elections Code 359.5

(b) Next to the foregoing question, the words “Yes” and “No” on separate lines with a voting target next to each.

(c) If the officer sought to be recalled holds a voter-nominated office, the officer may elect to have the officer’s party preference identified on the ballot. The officer shall inform the Secretary of State whether the officer elects to have a party preference identified on the ballot by the deadline for the officer to file an answer with the Secretary of State pursuant to Section 11023. The Secretary of State shall disseminate this information to all appropriate county elections officials. The statement of party preference shall appear immediately to the right of and on the same line as the officer’s name, or immediately below the officer’s name if there is not sufficient space to the right of the officer’s name, and shall appear in substantially the following form:

(1) If the officer stated a political party preference on the officer’s affidavit of registration, the statement shall read: “Party Preference:____” (inserting the name of the qualified political party stated on the affidavit of registration.) The listed political party preference shall be the political party preference stated on the officer’s affidavit of registration at the time the notice of intention is filed with the elections official pursuant to Section 11021.

(2) If the officer did not state a political party preference on the officer’s affidavit of registration, the statement shall read: “Party Preference: None.”

(3) If the officer elects not to have the officer’s political party preference identified on the ballot, or if the officer fails to inform the Secretary of State whether the officer elects to have a party preference identified on the ballot by the deadline for the officer to file an answer with the Secretary of State, the statement of party preference shall not appear on the ballot.

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 676, Sec. 10. (AB 1219) Effective January 1, 2024.)

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