Once filed with the Registrar of Voters, the Ballot Designation Worksheet becomes a public record and is available for viewing by the public upon request.
Ballot Designation Rules and Regulations
There are specific laws and regulations that govern whether a ballot designation is acceptable or unacceptable for printing on the ballot. These rules are outlined in California Elections Code §13107, §13107.3, §13107.5 and Title 2 of the California Code of Regulations §20710-20719. The laws and regulations on ballot designations are complex and may be challenging to navigate. The Registrar of Voters recommends that any candidate seeking an interpretation of any statute or regulation cited in this guide consult with an attorney.
Principal Professions, Vocations, or Occupations
All candidates, excluding some judicial candidates, may choose to use no more than three* words designating either (Cal. Elec. Code §13107(a)(3)):
• their current principal professions, vocations, or occupations of the candidate, or • their previous principal professions, vocations, or occupations during the calendar year immediately preceding the filing of nomination documents if the candidate is not currently engaged in principal professions, vocations, or occupations. A candidate may engage in multiple principal professions, vocations, or occupations, and may designate multiple principal professions, vocations, or occupations. If a candidate proposes a ballot designation including multiple principal professions, vocations or occupations, the proposed ballot designation must (Cal. Code of Regulations §20714(e)):
• comply with the three* word limitation, • each independently qualify as “principal,” • be separately considered by the elections official, and • be separated by a slash (“/”).
*For purposes of determining the word count of a ballot designation, the following shall be considered as one word (Cal. Elec. Code §13107(d)):
• all California geographical names, •
hyphenated words that appear in any generally available standard reference dictionary, published in the United States at any time within the 10 calendar years immediately preceding the election for which the words are counted, including a generally available standard reference dictionary published online, shall be considered as one word. Each part of all other hyphenated words shall be counted as a separate word.
Definition for “Principal”
California Code of Regulations §20714(b) defines the word “principal” as substantial involvement of time and effort such that the activity is one of the primary, main or leading
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