• the candidate is not engaged concurrently in another principal profession, vocation, or occupation, and • the words “Community Volunteer” are not used in combination with any other principal profession, vocation, or occupation designation. California Code of Regulations §20714.5 defines “Community Volunteer” as a person who engages in an activity or performs a service for or on behalf of, without profiting monetarily, one or more of the following: • A charitable, educational, or religious organization as defined by the United States Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3); • A governmental agency; or • An educational institution. If a candidate is requesting to use “Community Volunteer” as their proposed ballot designation, they must demonstrate that the activity/service constitutes substantial involvement of time and effort such that the activity/service is the sole, primary, main, or leading professional, vocational, or occupational endeavor of the candidate.
Acceptable Ballot Designations
California Code of Regulations §20714(c) states that the candidate’s ballot designation must be factually accurate, descriptive of the candidate's principal profession, vocation or occupation, must be neither confusing nor misleading, and must be in full and complete compliance with Elections Code and California Code of Regulations. California Code of Regulations §20714(f) states that ballot designations shall be grammatically correct, generic, and all words must be spelled correctly. Punctuation shall be limited to the use of a comma and a slash; however, a hyphen may be used if, and only if, the use of a hyphen is called for in the spelling of a word as it appears in a standard reference dictionary of the English language, which was published in the United States at any time within the 10 calendar years immediately preceding the election for which the words are counted.
Example A: High School Teacher Example B: Councilmember / Businessperson / Parent
Unacceptable Ballot Designations
California Elections Code §13107(e) states that the elections official shall not accept any ballot designation that: • would mislead the voter, • suggests an evaluation of a candidate, • abbreviates the word “retired,” • uses a word or prefix, other than “retired,” that refers to prior status, • uses the name of any political party, whether or not it has qualified for the ballot, • refers to a racial, religious, or ethnic group, or • refers to any activity prohibited by law.
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