Terms Used In California Codes > Elections Code > Division 0.5 > Chapter 4 - Definitions

• action taken: means a collective decision made by a majority of the members of a legislative body, a collective commitment or promise by a majority of the members of a legislative body to make a positive or a negative decision, or an actual vote by a majority of the members of a legislative body when sitting as a body or entity, upon a motion, proposal, report, resolution, order, or recommendation. See California Education Code 89305.4
• 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.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Authorized user: means either of the following:

  California Elections Code 354.5

• Ballot card: means a card or a number of cards upon which are printed, or identified by reference to the ballot, the names of candidates for nomination or election to one or more offices or the ballot titles of one or more measures. See California Elections Code 302
• Ballot label: means :

  California Elections Code 303

• 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
• Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
• board: means any entity listed in Section 101, the entities referred to in Sections 1000 and 3600, the State Bar, the Department of Real Estate, and any other state agency that issues a license, certificate, or registration authorizing a person to engage in a business or profession. See California Business and Professions Code 31
• Board: means the Respiratory Care Board of California. See California Business and Professions Code 3704
• candidate: includes any officeholder who is subject to a recall election. See California Elections Code 305
• 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

• Clerk: means the county elections official, registrar of voters, city clerk, or other officer or board charged with the duty of conducting any election. See California Elections Code 307
• County: includes city and county. See California Business and Professions Code 17
• County officer: means any elected officer enumerated in Division 2 (commencing with Section 24000) of Title 3 of . See California Elections Code 314
• Disability: means a medical condition, mental disability, or physical disability, as those terms are defined in subdivisions (i), (j), and (l) of §. See California Elections Code 354.5
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Election: means any election including a primary that is provided for under this code. See California Elections Code 318
• Electioneering: means the visible display or audible dissemination of information that advocates for or against any candidate or measure on the ballot within the 100 foot limit specified in subdivision (b). See California Elections Code 319.5
• Elections official: means any of the following:

  California Elections Code 320

• Elector: means a person who is a United States citizen 18 years of age or older and, except as specified in subdivision (b), is a resident of an election precinct in this state on or before the day of an election. See California Elections Code 321
• Federal election: means any presidential election, general election, primary election, or special election held solely or in part for the purpose of selecting, nominating, or electing any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, presidential elector, Member of the United States Senate, or Member of the United States House of Representatives. See California Elections Code 323
• General election: means either of the following:

  California Elections Code 324

• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• Judicial officer: means any Justice of the Supreme Court, justice of a court of appeal, or judge of the superior court. See California Elections Code 327
• Jurisprudence: The study of law and the structure of the legal system.
• Legislative body: means any or all of the following:

  California Education Code 89305.1

• licensed clinic: means a clinic licensed pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 1200) of Chapter 1 of Division 2 of . See California Business and Professions Code 4027
• Licensee: means any person authorized by a license, certificate, registration, or other means to engage in a business or profession regulated by this code or referred to in Sections 1000 and 3600. See California Business and Professions Code 23.8
• Measure: means any constitutional amendment or other proposition submitted to a popular vote at any election. See California Elections Code 329
• Meeting: includes any congregation of a majority of the membership of a legislative body at the same time and place to hear, discuss, or deliberate upon any item that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body to which it pertains. See California Education Code 89305.1
• National Credit Union Administration: The federal regulatory agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions. (NCUA also administers the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which insures the deposits of federal credit unions.) ^{Source: OCC}
• New resident: means a person who meets all requirements of an elector of the State of California except that his or her residency was established subsequent to the 15th day prior to the election. See California Elections Code 332
• Nominate: means the selection, at a state-conducted primary election, of candidates who are entitled by law to participate in the general election for that office, but does not mean any other lawful mechanism that a political party may adopt for the purposes of choosing the candidate who is preferred by the party for a nonpartisan or voter-nominated office. See California Elections Code 332.5
• Paper cast vote record: means an auditable document that corresponds to the selection made on the voter's ballot and lists the contests on the ballot and the voter's selections for those contests. See California Elections Code 305.5
• Party: means a political party or organization that has qualified for participation in any primary or presidential general election. See California Elections Code 338
• Polling place: means a location where a voter casts a ballot and includes the following terms, as applicable: poll, polling location, and vote center. See California Elections Code 338.5
• Precinct: means a geographical area within a county that is made up of voters and is formed pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 12200) of Division 12. See California Elections Code 338.6
• precinct board: means the board appointed by the elections official to serve at a vote center. See California Elections Code 339
• Primary election: includes all primary nominating elections provided for by this code. See California Elections Code 341
• Punching: includes marking a ballot card to record a vote. See California Elections Code 345
• Regular election: is a n election, the specific time for the holding of which is prescribed by law. See California Elections Code 348
• Remote accessible vote by mail system: means a mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic system and its software that is used for the sole purpose of marking an electronic vote by mail ballot for a voter who shall print the paper cast vote record to be submitted to the elections official. See California Elections Code 303.3
• Respiratory care: includes "respiratory therapy" or "inhalation therapy" where those terms mean respiratory care. See California Business and Professions Code 3704
• Roster: means the official list of voters for an election, which may be in paper or electronic form. See California Elections Code 349.5
• School officer: means the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the superintendent of schools of a county. See California Elections Code 352
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Food and Agriculture. See California Food and Agricultural Code 35
• Signature: includes either of the following:

  California Elections Code 354.5

• Signature stamp: means a stamp that contains the impression of any of the following:

  California Elections Code 354.5

• Software: includes all programs, voting devices, cards, ballot cards or papers, operating manuals or instructions, test procedures, printouts, and other nonmechanical or nonelectrical items necessary to the operation of a voting system. See California Elections Code 355
• 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 Elections Code 356.5
• Statewide election: is a n election held throughout the state. See California Elections Code 357
• teleconference: means a meeting of a legislative body, the members of which are in different locations, connected by electronic means, through either audio or video, or both. See California Education Code 89305.1
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• trustees: means the Trustees of the California State University, created under Section 66600. See California Education Code 89000
• Veterinary food-animal drugs: as used in this chapter shall include the following:

  California Business and Professions Code 4042

• Vote center: means a location established for holding elections that offers the services described in Sections 2170 and 4005. See California Elections Code 357.5
• Voter: means any elector who is registered under this code. See California Elections Code 359
• Voter list: means the list of registered voters in a single or consolidated precinct or in an entire county. See California Elections Code 359.2
• 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
• Voting device: means any device used in conjunction with a ballot card or cards to indicate the choice of the voter by marking, punching, or slotting the ballot card. See California Elections Code 360
• Voting machine: means any electronic device, including, but not limited to, a precinct optical scanner and a direct recording voting system, into which a voter may enter his or her votes, and which, by means of electronic tabulation and generation of printouts or other tangible, human-readable records, furnishes a total of the number of votes cast for each candidate and for or against each measure. See California Elections Code 361
• Voting system: means a mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic system and its software, or any combination of these used for casting a ballot, tabulating votes, or both. See California Elections Code 362