Article 4 - Precinct Boundary Changes

California Elections Code — §§ 12260-12263

Sections (4)

Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 725, Sec. 9. Effective January 1, 1997.

(a)The elections official may change or alter any precinct boundaries.

(b)If any changes or alterations are made the elections official shall prepare new detail maps or exterior descriptions thereof, or both. The county surveyor shall, if so requested, provide assistance to the elections official in the preparation of the detail maps or exterior descriptions.

(c)The elections official shall provide, at the request of any interested person, the following information:

(1)All precinct boundary changes and alterations made within the current calendar year and the immediately preceding two calendar years.

(2)All precinct consolidations made within the current calendar year and the immediately preceding two calendar years, specifying the election or elections in which the consolidations were made.

(d)The information provided to persons pursuant to subdivision (c) shall include the precinct numbers before the change or alteration and then a description, including precinct numbers, of the changes or alterations. The description may include maps.

(e)The information described in subdivisions (c) and (d) shall be compiled for each calendar year and shall be kept and filed so as to be accessible to any person upon request.

(f)The elections official may charge a person requesting information the amount needed to reimburse the jurisdiction for the actual expenses incurred in providing copies of the information required under this section.

§ 12261

Repealed (in Sec. 6) and added by Stats. 2001, Ch. 904, Sec. 7. Effective January 1, 2002. Section operative January 1, 2005, by its own provisions.

(a)The boundaries of precincts for the general election shall be the same as those established for the direct primary election, except to the extent necessary to add or subtract precincts as the result of population change or to divide precincts containing more than 1,000 voters or to change precinct boundaries due to jurisdictional boundary changes, or consolidations of elections. Changes of precinct boundaries may also be made when consolidating precincts.

(b)This section shall become operative on January 1, 2005.

§ 12262

Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 118, Sec. 3. (AB 1730) Effective January 1, 2018.

Jurisdictional boundary changes occurring less than 125 days before an election shall not be effective for purposes of that election. Voters residing within an area affected by a boundary change, occurring within 125 days before an election, shall vote at the ensuing election in all respects as if a boundary change had not occurred.

§ 12263

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 80, Sec. 1. (AB 17) Effective January 1, 2026.

The registrar of voters in each county shall make available, upon request by any member of the public, a map in digital form provided free of charge that shows the effective boundaries of each precinct within the county.