Current Elections

You may write in a qualified write‐in candidate’s name on the ballot in a Primary Election contest. If a voter writes in a name of a non-qualified candidate, it will be treated like a “no-vote” for that selection. A list of qualified write‐in candidates will be provided here once available from the California Secretary of State’s office.

In the General Election, you may only write‐in a qualified candidate’s name for Party‐Nominated contests and Non-Partisan contests. Write-in candidates for Voter-Nominated offices can only run in the Primary Election. However, a write-in candidate in the Primary Election can move on to the General Election if the candidate is one of the top two vote-getters in the Primary Election.

How to be a write-in candidate EC §§ 8600-8605

Persons who did not file a Declaration of Candidacy and fulfill their nomination requirements to place their name on the ballot may run for office as a write‑in candidate.  Write‑in votes will be counted and certified in the Statement of Vote only for qualified write‑in candidates who file the required forms with the Elections Department no later than 14 days prior to Election Day. 

Voters may write‑in any person they wish for any office regardless of whether the person has qualified or not.  However, the votes will only be tabulated for qualified write-in candidates.

To qualify as a write‑in candidate, a person must file with the County Clerk/Elections Department the “Statement of Write‑in Candidacy” which shall contain the candidate’s name, a declaration stating that he or she is a write‑in candidate, the title of the office for which he or she is running and the date of the election.

No person whose name has been written in upon a ballot for an office at the direct primary may have his or her name placed upon the ballot as a candidate for that office for the ensuing general election unless one of the following is applicable:

• At that direct primary he or she received for a partisan office votes equal in number to 1 percent of all votes cast for the office at the last preceding general election at which the office was filled. In the case of an office that has not appeared on the ballot since its creation, the requisite number of votes shall equal 1 percent of the number of all votes cast for the office that had the least number of votes in the most recent general election in the jurisdiction in which the write-in candidate is seeking office.
• He or she is an independent nominee for a partisan office (Section 8300 et. al).
• At that direct primary he or she received for a voter-nominated office the highest number of votes cast for that office or the second highest number of votes cast for that office, except as provided by subdivision (b) of Section 8142 or Section 8807.  (Elections Code § 8605)

Write‑in candidates are subject to the same requirements as other candidates with regard to disclosure of economic interests and campaign disclosure.  (Gov. Code §82007; Elections Code §305)

The Elections Department will provide polling places with a list of qualified write‑in candidates.

No Write-In Candidates for Voter-Nominated Offices

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person may not be a write-in candidate at the General Election for a voter-nominated office.  (Elections Code §8606)

Offices Omitted From Ballot

Prospective write‑in candidates should note that write‑in candidacy is possible only if the office appears on the ballot. 

Judicial Office Write-Ins

Uncontested incumbent Superior Court judges do not appear on the ballot in the Primary or the General. However, the law allows for a write-in campaign to be conducted if a petition indicating that a write-in campaign will be conducted against an incumbent Superior Court Judge is filed by the 83rd day before the election. The petition must be signed by 0.1% of the registered voters qualified to vote on the office, provided that the petition contain at least 100 but no more than 600 signatures. (Elections Code §8203(b))

A Non‐Partisan contest is an office in which no political party nominates a candidate. Superintendent of Public Instruction, Superior Court Judges, County Offices, Municipal Offices, Schools, and Special Districts are examples of non‐partisan offices.

Primary Election Non‐Partisan contests:

• Superintendent of Public Instruction
• Judge of the Superior Court
• Board of Supervisors
• Assessor
• Auditor
• Coroner
• County Clerk-Recorder
• County Treasurer-Tax Collector
• District Attorney
• Public Administrator
• Sheriff
• Superintendent of Schools

General Election only Non‐Partisan contests:
(These offices are not included in the Primary Election.)

• Member, School District Boards
• Member, County Board of Education
• Director, Special District Boards
• Member, City Council/City Treasurer
• Member, County Central Committees

For Non‐Partisan contests that are included in the Primary Election:
If a candidate receives simple majority of votes win outright in the Primary. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, then the top‐two vote‐getters move on to the General Election for a run-off.

For Non‐Partisan contests that are only included in the General Election:
The Candidate that receives the highest number of votes wins outright in the General Election. There is no run-off election for these candidates.

Voter‐Nominated offices are contests in which the nominee is selected by the voter. In voter‐nominated contests, any voter can vote for any candidate, regardless of party. It also allows candidates to choose whether they want to disclose their party preference on the ballot.

Voter-nominated contests affected by Top-Two rule:

• United States Senator
• United States Representative in Congress
• Governor
• Lieutenant Governor
• Secretary of State
• Controller
• Insurance Commissioner
• State Treasurer
• Attorney General
• Member, State Board of Equalization
• Member of the State Senate
• Member of the State Assembly

On June 8, 2010, California voters passed Proposition 14, which created the “Top-Two Open Primary Act.” As such, all Voter-Nominated office candidates appear on all ballots. The top two vote-getters, regardless of their party affiliations, advance to the General Election. Consequently, it is possible for two candidates belonging to the same political party to win in a top-two primary and face off in the general election.

Top-Two does not affect the election of President and County Central Committees, which are Party-Nominated contests. President and County Central Committees only appear on ballots of voters who are registered as the Party of their affiliations during the Primary election. See section on Party-Nominated contests for more information.

Party-nominated offices are contests in which the nominee is selected by the political party.

Party‐Nominated Contests:

• U.S. President
• County Central Committees.

During a Presidential Primary Election, only registered voters in that political party can vote for that party’s candidate on the ballot. This is known as a Closed Presidential Primary.

The exception to that rule: When candidates for the President are on the Primary Election Ballot, some–but not all–political parties choose to allow No Party Preference (NPP) voters to participate in their primary without having to re-register. This is known as a “crossover” or a Modified-Closed Presidential Primary. If you are not registered with one of the certified political parties, the state election laws consider you to be a NPP voter and you will be given the option to crossover.

Certified political parties in California:

• American Independent Party (AI)
• Democratic Party (DEM)
• Green Party (GRN)
• Libertarian Party (LIB)
• Peace & Freedom Party (PF)
• Republican Party (REP)

If a qualified political party chooses to hold a Modified-Closed Presidential Primary, the party must notify the California Secretary of State no later than the 135th day before Election Day. Counties will then notify voters as to which parties allow crossovers as the presidential primary election draws near.

If you are a NPP voter, you have 3 choices for how to participate in the primary:

1. Request a crossover. This is only allowed for the parties that authorize it.
2. Re-register. Do this if you want to participate in the party’s primary but do not have the option to crossover.
3. Do nothing. You will be provided a ballot with no presidential candidates on it, but every other contest will be available to you to vote on.

No matter how you decide to participate in the presidential primary, everyone will be able to vote for President and Vice-President in the November General Election.