This article applies only to contests on the grounds that:

(a) The defendant is not eligible to the office in dispute.

Terms Used In California Elections Code 16440

  • contestant: means any person initiating an election contest. See California Elections Code 16002
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Defendant: means that person whose election or nomination is contested or those persons receiving an equal and highest number of votes, other than the contestant, where, in other than primary elections, the body canvassing the returns declares that no one person has received the highest number of votes for the contested office. See California Elections Code 16002

(b) The defendant has committed any offense against the elective franchise as defined in Division 18 (commencing with Section 18000).

(c) A sufficient number of votes were illegal, fraudulent, forged, or otherwise improper, and that had those votes not been counted the defendant would not have received as many votes as the contestant.

(Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)

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