AP16:055
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2016
CONTACT: Sam Mahood
(916) 653-6575
Secretary of State Padilla Certifies Candidate List for June 7, 2016, Presidential Primary Election
SACRAMENTO – Secretary of State Alex Padilla today published the certified list of candidates who will appear on June 7, 2016, Presidential Primary Election ballots. The official list, with ballot designations and contact information for each candidate, is available at http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/upcoming-elections/june-7-2016-presidential-primary-election.
Californians will weigh in on 154 state legislative and congressional contests. The Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act requires that all candidates for a voter-nominated office (previously known as a partisan office) be listed on the same ballot. The voter-nominated offices on the June ballot are one member of the U.S. Senate, 53 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, the 80 State Assembly members, and the 20 odd-numbered State Senate district members.
Anyone can vote for any candidate for a voter-nominated office, regardless of party preference. The two candidates receiving the most votes move on to the November 8, 2016 General Election regardless of vote totals. Even if there are only one or two candidates in a race in the open primary, a general election is still required.
The Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act does not apply to candidates running for U.S. president, county central committee, and local offices. Voters who registered with a political party may only vote for a presidential candidate running in that party’s primary election. Qualified political parties are holding their presidential primaries in one of two ways:
- Closed presidential primary, in which only voters indicating a preference for the party may vote that party’s presidential ballot. The Republican, Green, and Peace and Freedom parties are holding closed presidential primaries on June 7.
- Modified-closed primary, in which the party also allows voters who registered with no party preference (NPP) to request to receive and vote that party’s presidential ballot. The American Independent, Democratic, and Libertarian parties are allowing NPP voters to vote their June 7 presidential primary ballot. (A voter may not request more than one party’s presidential ballot.)
The first June 7 Presidential Primary Election ballots may go out to California’s military and overseas voters as early as April 8. Counties begin mailing vote-by-mail ballots on May 9. The last day to register to vote in the June 7 Presidential Primary Election is May 23. The last day to request a vote-by-mail ballot by mail is May 31.
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