California Legal Codes and Statutes

Chapter 1 - Conditions for Mail Ballot Election

California Elections Code — §§ 4000-4008

Sections (9)

§ 4000

Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 286, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2008.

A local, special, or consolidated election may be conducted wholly by mail provided that all of the following conditions apply:

(a)The governing body of the local agency authorizes the use of mailed ballots for the election.
(b)The election is held on an established mailed ballot election date pursuant to Section 1500.
(c)The election is one of the following:
(1)An election in which no more than 1,000 registered voters are eligible to participate.
(2)An election on a measure or measures restricted to (A) the imposition of special taxes, or (B) expenditure limitation overrides, or (C) both (A) and (B), in a city, county, or special district with 5,000 or less registered voters calculated as of the time of the last report of registration by the county elections official to the Secretary of State.
(3)An election on the issuance of a general obligation water bond in accordance with Section 12944.5 of the Water Code.
(4)An election of the Directors of the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District as authorized in Section 122 of Chapter 527 of the Statutes of 1977, known as the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District Law.
(5)An election of the Aliso Water Management Agency, or its affected member agencies, pursuant to Sections 13416 and 13417 of the Water Code.
(6)An election of the San Jacinto Mountain Area Water Study Agency pursuant to Sections 13416 and 13417 of the Water Code.
(7)An election of the San Lorenzo Valley Water District pursuant to Sections 13416 and 13417 of the Water Code.
(8)An election or assessment ballot proceeding required or authorized by Article XIII C or XIII D of the California Constitution. However, when an assessment ballot proceeding is conducted by mail pursuant to this section, the following rules apply:
(A)The proceeding shall be denominated an “assessment ballot proceeding” rather than an election.
(B)Ballots shall be denominated “assessment ballots.”
§ 4002

Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 86, Sec. 1. Effective July 19, 2005.

Notwithstanding Section 4000, a special district may conduct its elections by mail in accordance with Sections 1500, 4104, 4105, and 4108.

§ 4003

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

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, whenever any district has adopted the all-mailed ballot procedure for conducting general district elections pursuant to Section 4104 and any other election is scheduled to be held in territory that is the same or partly the territory of the district on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of the odd-numbered year, the district may, by resolution of the governing board, revoke the adoption of the all-mailed ballot procedure and order the general district election consolidated with the other election pursuant to Section 10402.

§ 4004

Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 86, Sec. 2. Effective July 19, 2005.

(a)“Small city” means a city with a population of 100,000 or less, as determined by the annual city total population rankings by the Demographic Research Unit of the Department of Finance.
(b)“Eligible entity” means a school district or a special district.
(c)Notwithstanding Sections 1500 and 4000, an election in a small city or an eligible entity may be conducted wholly as an all-mail ballot election, subject to the following conditions:
(1)The legislative body of the small city or the governing body of the eligible entity, by resolution, authorizes the use of mailed ballots for the election.
(2)The election is a special election to fill a vacancy in the legislative body or governing body.
(3)The election is not held on the same date as a statewide primary or general election.
(4)The election is not consolidated with any other election.
(5)The return of voted mail ballots is subject to Section 3017.
§ 4005.5

Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 180, Sec. 4. (SB 117) Effective August 24, 2017.

The Secretary of State shall assist each county conducting an election in 2018 pursuant to Section 4005 in providing voter education and community outreach in addition to the voter education and outreach required by Section 4005, including, but not limited to, direct contact with voters. The Secretary of State may provide funding allocated for the purposes of this section to each county.

§ 4005.6

Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 479, Sec. 7. (AB 1762) Effective January 1, 2024.

An election conducted pursuant to Section 4005 is subject to the following requirements:

(a)The provisions of Sections 14200 and 14201 that apply to polling places also apply to vote centers.
(b)Prior to every election, the county elections official shall determine if a voter has previously identified a preferred language other than English to the elections official or to the Secretary of State. If the voter’s precinct is required to have a facsimile copy of the ballot in the voter’s preferred language pursuant to Section 14201, the county elections official shall send to the voter by regular mail or electronic mail a facsimile copy of the ballot

in that language. The voter shall receive the facsimile copy of the ballot before vote centers open pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 4005. The facsimile copy of the ballot shall be sufficiently distinct in appearance from a regular ballot to prevent voters from attempting to vote on the facsimile copy.

§ 4006

Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 832, Sec. 4. (SB 450) Effective January 1, 2017.

For any election conducted pursuant to Section 4005, the county elections official shall make a reasonable effort to inform a voter of either of the following:

(a)If the voter’s vote by mail ballot envelope is missing a signature.
(b)How the voter can correct the missing signature.
§ 4008

Added by Stats. 2024, Ch. 480, Sec. 3. (SB 1450) Effective January 1, 2025.

(a)The Secretary of State shall establish a taskforce that includes representatives of all of the following:
(1)County elections officials.
(2)Individuals with demonstrated language accessibility experience for languages covered under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. Sec. 10101 et seq.).
(3)The disability community and community organizations and individuals that advocate on behalf of, or provide services to, individuals with disabilities.
(4)Experts with

demonstrated experience in the field of elections.

(b)The taskforce shall review elections conducted pursuant to Section 4005 and provide comments and recommendations to the Legislature within six months of each election conducted pursuant to Section 4005. The report required by this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.