ARTICLE 1. General Provisions [13200. - 13220.]

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC 1.
in effect

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13201. Section 13201.

The ballots of each political party’s central committee shall be designed so that each ballot may be easily and clearly distinguished from, and not confused with, a ballot of any other political party.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13202. Section 13202.

(a) All ballots of the same sort prepared by any county elections official, clerk or secretary of a legislative body, or other person having charge of preparing ballots for the same polling place, shall be precisely the same size, arrangement, quality and tint of paper, and kind of type, and shall be printed with ink of the same tint, so that without the numbers on the stubs it is impossible to distinguish any one of the ballots from the other ballots of the same sort. (b) The names of all candidates printed upon the ballot shall be in type of the same size and character. If there is not sufficient space for a candidate name, the size may be adjusted as close as possible to the size and character of all the other candidate names printed upon the ballot. (c) For multilingual ballots, if there is not sufficient space to print candidate names in at least 10-point bold type, as required by Section 13211, the size of candidate names shall be uniformly adjusted to a size that is no less than 8-point type.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13203. Section 13203.

At the top of the first page of the ballot shall be printed in at least 16-point bold type the words “Official Ballot.” Beneath this heading, the name of the election shall be printed in at least 12-point bold type and, in the case of a partisan primary election, the official party designation or the words “Nonpartisan Ballot” shall be printed, as applicable. After the heading line or lines, there shall be printed, in at least 12-point type, the date of the election and, in at least 8-point type, the name of the county in which the ballot is to be voted. The county name may alternatively be displayed in the county seal or logo. In addition, the ballot shall have printed, at the top or bottom of each card, a ballot style identifier or some other means of identifying the number of the congressional, Senate, and Assembly district.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13204. Section 13204.

(a) The instructions to voters shall be printed below the ballot identification and above the contests to be voted on, or in the first column of the ballot as long as no contest is placed below the instructions in that column. The instructions shall be in at least 10-point type and in an area clearly separated from the ballot contests. (b) (1) The instructions shall be written in plain language to communicate the following information: (A) How to vote for a candidate or in a contest with “Yes” and “No” options. (B) How to write in a candidate. (C) What to do if a mistake is made. (2) The instructions may also include warnings and checks to help voters mark their ballot correctly and avoid errors. Instructions for specific types of contests are required only if a contest of that type appears on the ballot. (c) (1) For purposes of the instructions described in this section, the following text is recommended: “Instructions for voting To vote for a candidate, completely fill in the [voting target] next to the candidate’s name or the word “Yes” or “No.” To vote for a qualified write-in candidate, write the name in the blank space provided and fill in the [voting target]. If you make a mistake, [instructions for making a correction] [or ask for a new ballot]. Make sure your vote counts. Use a [blue or black ballpoint pen]. Do not select more candidates than the number to be elected. You may vote in as many or as few contests as you want. A mistake in one contest does not affect the rest of the ballot.” (2) The recommended instructions in paragraph (1) may be modified to apply to the voting system and ballot format in each county, and the administration of elections in that county. (d) The instructions may be accompanied by illustrations, customized to the ballot design in each county, that show the correct way of marking a selection on the ballot, writing in a candidate name, or correcting a mistake.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13206. Section 13206.

(a) (1) On the partisan ballot used in a direct primary election, immediately before or above the contest for President, the following words shall be printed on ballots of parties that require registration as a member of the party to vote in the party’s primary election: “Party-Nominated Offices Only voters registered as a member of the [name of party] may vote in this primary election for President and party committee.” (2) In the same location, the following words shall be printed on ballots of parties that permit voters who have not disclosed a party preference to vote in the party’s primary: “Party-Nominated Offices Voters registered as a member of the [name of party] may vote in this primary election for President and party committee. Some parties may allow voters with no party preference to vote in the party’s primary election for President.” (3) For voting systems that do not allow variance in instructions, the following words shall be printed: “Party-Nominated Offices Voters registered as a member of the same party as the candidates may vote in this primary election for President and party committee. Some parties may allow voters with no party preference to vote in the party’s primary election for President.” (b) Before or above the first voter-nominated contest, the following words shall be printed: “Voter-Nominated Offices All voters may vote in these contests. Candidates display a party preference (or None) for the information of voters. This is not a party endorsement or approval.” (c) Before or above the first nonpartisan contest, or in the same area as the notice for voter-nominated offices, the following words shall be printed: “Nonpartisan Offices All voters may vote in these contests. Candidates for these offices do not display a party preference.”

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13206.5. Section 13206.5.

(a) (1) On the ballot used in a statewide general election in each year evenly divisible by the number four, immediately before or above the contest for President, the following words shall be printed: “Party-Nominated Offices Candidates for these offices are the official nominee of the party displayed with their name.” (2) On the ballot used in a statewide general election in each year evenly divisible by the number four, following the portion of the ballot for party-nominated offices, the following words shall be printed: “Voter-Nominated and Nonpartisan Offices Candidates display a party preference (or None) for the information of voters. This is not a party endorsement or approval.” (b) On the ballot used in a statewide general election in each even-numbered year that is not evenly divisible by the number four, immediately below the instructions to voters, the following words shall be printed: “Voter-Nominated and Nonpartisan Offices Candidates display a party preference (or None) for the information of voters. This is not a party endorsement or approval.”

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13207. Section 13207.

(a) There shall be printed on the ballot in parallel columns all of the following: (1) The respective offices. (2) The names of candidates with sufficient blank spaces to allow the voters to write in names not printed on the ballot, except that no spaces shall be printed for voter-nominated offices at a general election. (3) Whatever measures have been submitted to the voters. (b) In the case of a ballot which is intended for use in a party primary and which carries partisan offices, voter-nominated offices, and nonpartisan offices, a vertical solid black line shall divide the columns containing partisan offices, on the left, from the columns containing nonpartisan offices and voter-nominated offices, on the right. (c) The standard width of columns containing partisan offices, nonpartisan offices, and voter-nominated offices, shall be three inches except that an elections official may vary the width of these columns by up to one inch. The column containing presidential and vice presidential candidates may be as wide as four inches. (d) A measure that is to be submitted to the voters shall be printed in one or more parallel columns to the right of the columns containing the names of candidates and shall be of sufficient width to contain the title and summary of the measure. To the right of or below the title and summary shall be printed, on separate lines, the words “Yes” and “No.”

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13208. Section 13208.

(a) A voting target shall be printed next to the name of each voting option. The voting targets shall be used by the voters to express their choices as provided for in the instruction to voters. (b) The standard voting target shall be at least 0.12 inches across in either dimension. (c) As used in this section, “target” means an object designated as the aim for a voter to make a vote selection.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13209. Section 13209.

Whenever a foreign translation of the ballot is required by the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended by Public Law 94-73, to appear on the ballot as well as the English language version, the ballot may be so designed as to place the foreign translation next to the voting target.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13210. Section 13210.

(a) In the case of candidates for delegate to national convention, there shall be printed in at least 10-point bold type, the words, “President of the United States” and “Vote for one group only.” (b) In the case of candidates for President and Vice President, the words “Vote for One Party” shall appear just below the heading “President and Vice President” and shall be printed so as to appear above the voting targets for that office. The heading “President and Vice President” shall be printed in at least 10-point bold type. (c) In that section of the ballot designated for judicial offices, next to the heading “judicial” shall appear the instruction: “Vote yes or no for each office.” (d) In the case of candidates for Justice of the Supreme Court and court of appeal, within the rectangle provided for each candidate, and immediately above each candidate’s name, there shall appear the following: “For (designation of judicial office).” There shall be as many of these headings as there are candidates for these judicial offices. No heading shall apply to more than one judicial office. Underneath each heading shall appear the words “Shall (title and name of Justice) be elected to the office for the term provided by law?” (e) In the case of all other candidates, each group of candidates to be voted on shall be preceded by the designation of the office for which they are running, and the words “vote for one” or “vote for no more than two,” or more, according to the number to be nominated or elected. The designation of the office and the words “vote for” shall be printed in at least 9-point bold type. The designation of the office and the directions for voting shall be separated from the candidates by a light line. There shall be no line between the headings for federal or legislative offices and the designation of the office and the directions for voting.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13211.5. Section 13211.5.

(a) Each group of names of candidates for a particular office shall be printed in immediate succession to another group of names of candidates for a particular office so as to avoid unnecessary spacing or gaps in the sequence in which each series of groups of names are listed on the ballot. (b) Spaces may be left on the ballot in order to keep an entire contest together in a single column or page, or to manage the arrangement of contests on the ballot. (c) When a ballot has multiple pages or cards, an instruction shall be printed to direct the voter to continue to the next page or card.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13211.7. Section 13211.7.

(a) (1) In jurisdictions required to provide translated ballot materials pursuant to Section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. Sec. 10503), as that section may be amended from time to time, any ballot that provides a translation of a candidate’s name shall contain a phonetic transliteration of the candidate’s name, except as provided in subdivision (b). (2) This section applies only to character-based languages, including, but not limited to, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Japanese, and Korean. (3) If a candidate’s name is to appear on the ballot in more than one jurisdiction in an election, all of those jurisdictions required to provide translated ballot materials pursuant to Section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. Sec. 10503) shall use the same phonetic transliteration or character-based translation of the name. (4) (A) In a jurisdiction in which separate ballots containing translations of the candidates’ names are printed in different languages, both the alphabet-based names and the translations of the candidates’ names, for candidates that have translated names, shall appear on the translated ballot. (B) If a jurisdiction is unable to comply with subparagraph (A) due to limitations of its existing voting system, any new voting system purchased by the jurisdiction after July 1, 2020, shall be able to accommodate the requirements of subparagraph (A). (b) If a candidate has a character-based name by birth, that can be verified by birth certificate or other valid identification, the candidate may use that name on the ballot instead of a phonetic transliteration. A candidate who does not have a character-based name by birth, but who identifies by a particular character-based name and can demonstrate to the local elections official that the candidate has been known and identified within the public sphere by that name over the past two years, may use that name instead of a phonetic transliteration.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13212. Section 13212.

Except for a voter-nominated office at a general election, under the designation of each office shall be printed as many blank spaces, defined by light lines, as there are candidates to be nominated or elected to the office.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13213. Section 13213.

Each group of names of candidates for a particular office shall be separated from the succeeding group. Each series of groups shall be headed by a caption that reads “President of the United States,” “President and Vice President,” “State,” “United States Senator,” “United States Representative,” “State Senator,” “Member of the State Assembly,” “County,” or “City” or other proper general classification, as the case may be, printed in at least 10-point bold type. Each caption shall be separated from the names of the candidates beneath.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13214. Section 13214.

All sides of the columns on the ballot shall be bordered. The binding or stitching of each package of ballots shall be along the top or head of the ballot. If ballots are to be used on a ballot on demand system or another system that prints content onto ballots, ballots are not required to be bound or stitched.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13215. Section 13215.

(a) The ballots may be printed on the same leaf with a stub not over one inch in depth. The stub may be separated from the ballot by a horizontal perforated line or rule from side to side. Upon this stub shall be printed only the number of the ballot. (b) Stubs are not required on ballots to be used on a ballot on demand system or another system that prints content onto the ballot.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13216. Section 13216.

A ballot stub may be used for a ballot. The ballots may contain printed and distinguishing marks if secrecy in voting is protected.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13217. Section 13217.

(a) The number on each ballot shall be the same as that on the corresponding stub, and the ballots and stubs shall be numbered consecutively in each county, or the ballots and stubs may be numbered consecutively within each combination of congressional, senatorial, and Assembly districts in each county. In a partisan primary election, the sequence of numbers on the official ballots and stubs for each party within each county, or within each political subdivision in each county, shall begin with the number 1. (b) In counties using vote centers, ballots may be serialized in the way that best promotes ballot accounting and with the greatest economic efficiency for the county.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13218. Section 13218.

(a) The Secretary of State shall establish a ballot design advisory committee to assist the Secretary of State to promulgate regulations that prescribe ballot design and format. (b) The ballot design advisory committee shall consist of the Secretary of State, or the secretary’s designee, and members to be appointed by the Secretary of State who are recognized ballot design experts and county elections officials or a designee of a county elections official. Each recognized ballot design expert shall have demonstrated experience with ballot design requirements and knowledge of presenting election materials to voters using plain language methods or another method that is easy for voters to access and understand.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13219. Section 13219.

When printed, all ballots shall be bound in stub books, of such size as the clerk may determine. A record of the number of ballots printed shall be kept by the officer authorizing the printing. If stubs are not used pursuant to Section 13216, ballots may be bound by another method determined by the county elections official.

Cal. Elections Code - ELEC § 13220. Section 13220.

If two or more officers are to be elected for the same office for different terms, the terms for which each candidate for the office is nominated shall be printed on the ballot as a part of the title of the office. If at a general election an office is to be filled for a full term and also for a vacancy in another term, the list of candidates for the full term shall be placed on the ballot under the designation of the office with the words “Full Term” printed immediately after that designation, and the list of candidates to fill the vacancy shall be placed on the ballot under the designation of the office with the words “Short Term” printed immediately after that designation.
Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026

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