Under the California Constitution, political parties are not entitled to formally nominate candidates for voter-nominated offices at the primary election. A candidate nominated for a voter-nominated office at the primary election is the nominee of the people and not the official nominee of any party at the following general election. A candidate for nomination or election to a voter-nominated office shall have his or her party preference, or lack of party preference, reflected on the primary and general election ballot, but the party preference designation is selected solely by the candidate and is shown for the information of the voters only. It does not constitute or imply an endorsement of the candidate by the party designated, or affiliation between the party and candidate, and no candidate nominated by the qualified voters for any voter-nominated office shall be deemed to be the officially nominated candidate of any political party. The parties may list the candidates for voter-nominated offices who have received the official endorsement of the party in the sample ballot.
All voters may vote for any candidate for a voter-nominated office, provided they meet the other qualification required to vote for that office. The top two vote-getters at the primary election advance to the general election for the voter-nominated office, even if both candidates have specified the same party preference designation. No party is entitled to have a candidate with its party preference designation participate in the general election unless such candidate is one of the two highest vote-getters at the primary election.
If one candidate receives more than 50% of the votes cast at the special primary election, he or she will be elected to fill the vacancy and no special general election will be held.
As required by California Elections Code sections 8121(b)(3), 9083.5, 10704(d).
