Article 1 - Members

California Elections Code — §§ 7200-7216

Sections (18)

Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 8, Sec. 1. (AB 1200) Effective March 8, 2012.

(a)In each county containing less than five Assembly districts, a county committee shall be elected by supervisor districts, and the number to be elected from any supervisor district shall be determined as follows: There shall be taken the number of votes cast in the supervisor district at the last gubernatorial election for that party’s candidate for Governor, or, if the party had no candidate for Governor, for the candidate of the party voted on throughout the state who received the greatest number of votes and who was the candidate of that party alone. This number shall be divided by one-twentieth of the number of votes cast in that county for Governor or, where the party had no candidate for Governor, for the candidate mentioned above. The integer next larger than the quotient obtained

by that division shall constitute the number of members of the committee to be elected by that party in that supervisor district.

(b)The committees in counties containing less than five Assembly districts shall be composed of not less than 21 members. If the procedure outlined above would result in less than 21 members being elected for any committee, the number of votes cast for this party’s candidate in each supervisor district shall be divided by an amount sufficiently smaller than one-twentieth of the votes cast for Governor in that county as to give a membership in the committee equal to or the nearest amount that is greater than 21 members.

§ 7201

Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in a county of the fifth class as defined in Section 28026 of the Government Code, the elected members of the county central committee shall be elected by Assembly districts and shall consist of six members elected from each Assembly district, whether wholly or partly within the county, provided each such member is a resident of the county and of the Assembly district which the member represents. Only a person who is a resident of the county may vote for a candidate for membership to the county central committee and

may vote only for candidates seeking to represent the Assembly district in which the voter resides.

§ 7201.1

Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 106, Sec. 1. (AB 3370) Effective January 1, 2021.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the County of Sacramento, the elected members of the county central committee shall be elected by supervisor districts with six members elected from each supervisor district. Each member shall be a resident of the county and of the supervisor district that the member represents. Only a person who is a resident of the county may vote for a candidate for membership to the county central committee and may vote only for candidates seeking to represent the supervisor district in which the voter resides.

§ 7201.2

Added by Stats. 2012, Ch. 8, Sec. 3. (AB 1200) Effective March 8, 2012.

(a)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the County of Alameda, the elected members of the county central committee shall be elected by Assembly districts and the number to be elected from any Assembly district shall be determined as follows: There shall be taken the number of votes cast in that portion of the Assembly district lying within the County of Alameda at the last gubernatorial election for that party’s candidate for Governor, or, if the party had no candidate for Governor, for the candidate of the party voted on throughout the state who received the greatest number of votes and who was the candidate of that party alone. This number shall be divided by one-thirtieth of the number of votes cast in the county for Governor or, where the party had no candidate for Governor, for the candidate

mentioned above. The integer next larger than the quotient obtained by that division shall constitute the number of members of the committee to be elected by that party in that Assembly district.

(b)If the procedure described above would result in less than 30 members being elected for any committee, the number of votes cast for this party’s candidate in that portion of each Assembly district lying within the County of Alameda shall be divided by an amount sufficiently smaller than one-thirtieth of the votes cast for Governor in the county as to give a membership in the committee equal to or the nearest amount that is greater than 30 members.

Only a person who is a resident of the county may vote for a candidate for membership to the county central committee and may vote only for candidates seeking to represent the Assembly district in which the voter

resides.

§ 7202

Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.

In each county containing more than four and less than 20 Assembly districts, a county central committee shall be elected from Assembly districts and shall consist of six members elected from each Assembly district.

§ 7203

Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.

In each county containing 20 or more Assembly districts a county central committee shall consist of seven members elected from each Assembly district contained either wholly or partially within the county. In an Assembly district that lies only partially within a county containing 20 or more Assembly districts, the seven members shall be elected from that portion of the Assembly district contained within the county.

§ 7204

Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 854, Sec. 4. (AB 3284) Effective January 1, 2025.

(a)In the City and County of San Francisco, the county central committee shall be elected from the two Assembly districts located in the city and county and shall consist of 24 members. Whichever of the two Assembly districts consists of the majority of the registered Democrats in the city and county shall elect 14 members and the Assembly district that consists of the minority of the registered Democrats in the city and county shall elect 10 members.

(b)Both of the following shall apply for purposes of this section:

(1)“Registered Democrat” means any voter in the city and county who has expressed a preference for the

Democratic Party on their affidavit of registration pursuant to Sections 2150, 2151, and 2152 as of the 154th day prior to the first direct primary election after any redistricting of Assembly district boundaries.

(2)The City and County of San Francisco Department of Elections, or any comparable successor agency, shall calculate the percentage of the total registered Democrats in each Assembly district in the city and county.

§ 7205

Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.

Notwithstanding this article, each county central committee by resolution may provide for the election of all or a portion of central committee members to represent individual central committee districts. The member shall reside in the district he or she represents but shall be elected at large within the Assembly district in which the county central committee district he or she represents is located.

The county central committee shall reapportion itself at least every 10 years, prior to the June primary election of

that year. Each district shall be apportioned on the basis of the number of registered Democrats for the June primary in each even-numbered year, with no more than a 10-percent deviation from the average. Each district shall be compact, contiguous, and utilize any natural and neighborhood boundaries. The district boundaries shall not cut across any district lines of a precinct as drawn by the elections official for the last general or consolidated election.

§ 7206

Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 507, Sec. 1. (SB 1272) Effective January 1, 2013.

In each county the nominee of this party for Senator or the incumbent Senator, the nominees of this party for the Assembly, and any person elected to either the Senate or Assembly at a special election to fill a vacancy in that house, and the nominee of this party for Representative in Congress, and any person elected at a special election to fill a vacancy in the House of Representatives, shall be ex officio members of this committee. If the person elected from one party at the special election for an Assembly or Senate seat, or for the House of Representatives, shall be other than the nominee of that party for the same office at the prior election, the ex officio membership of the nominee shall expire immediately upon

certification by the Secretary of State of the election. Ex officio members shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges, including the right to vote, and shall have the same standing in every way as other members of this committee, except they shall not be entitled to a ballot designation of incumbent upon seeking election to this committee in the next presidential primary.

§ 7207

Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.

The incumbent or nominee of each of the following offices shall be an ex officio member of the committee in the county in which he or she resides:

(a)Governor.

(b)Lieutenant Governor.

(c)Secretary of State.

(d)Controller.

(e)Treasurer.

(f)Attorney General.

(g)Member of the State Board of Equalization.

(h)United States Senator from California.

His or her rights and privileges shall be the same as those prescribed for other ex officio members in Section 7206.

§ 7208

Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.

A committee may authorize any member of that committee, whether elected or ex officio, to appoint an alternate if a member desires to appoint an alternate. An incumbent Member of the Senate or Assembly at the time of the meeting of the committee may appoint an alternate member without authorization from that committee, if the member desires to appoint an alternate.

That alternate member shall have the right to vote only with the written authorization of the member who appointed him or her. An alternate member of a

county central committee shall be subject to the rules and regulations of the committee.

An alternate member must meet the same qualifications as the regular member and may vote only in the absence of the member who appointed him or her.

§ 7209

Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 299, Sec. 1. (SB 714) Effective January 1, 2022.

(a)A person is not eligible for election to a committee if the person’s affidavit of registration does not state a political party preference for this party at the time of the person’s election.

(b)Notwithstanding subdivision (a) or Section 8001, a person who is not a United States citizen, but who would be eligible to register to vote if the person were a United States citizen, is eligible for election to a committee if all of the following conditions are met:

(1)The bylaws of the committee permit a person who is not a United States citizen, but who would be eligible to register to vote if the person were a United States citizen, to serve as a member of the committee.

(2)The person meets all other eligibility requirements for election to the committee that are imposed by the bylaws of the

committee or this code.

(3)The committee, not later than the 172nd day preceding the presidential primary election, does both of the following:

(A)Notifies the county elections official that its bylaws permit a person who is not a United States citizen, but who would be eligible to register to vote if the person were a United States citizen, to be elected to, and to serve as a member of, the committee.

(B)Provides the county elections official with a list of the eligibility requirements in its

bylaws for a person to be elected to, and to serve on, the committee.

(4)At the time the person files a declaration of candidacy, the person also files a declaration of eligibility with the county elections official. The county elections official shall attach the list of eligibility requirements provided by the committee in accordance with subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) to the blank declaration of eligibility. The declaration of eligibility shall be substantially as follows:

(c)(1) The county elections official shall accept a completed declaration of eligibility filed by a candidate pursuant to subdivision (b) as a certification that the person is eligible for election to the committee. This section shall not be construed to permit or require the elections official to verify independently whether a candidate who has filed a declaration of eligibility satisfies the eligibility requirements provided by the committee in accordance with subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b).

(2)In lieu of attaching a certificate to a candidate’s declaration of candidacy in accordance with subdivision (b) of Section 8001, the elections official shall attach a candidate’s completed declaration of eligibility to the candidate’s completed declaration of candidacy, and shall preserve both documents in accordance with Section 17100.

§ 7211

Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.

In the event that the candidates elected to a committee from a district do not equal the number of party committeepersons to which the district is entitled to be represented, a vacancy or vacancies exist to the extent of the difference between the number of elected committeepersons and the number of committeepersons by which the district is entitled to be represented. When the vacancy or vacancies exist they shall be filled by the committee to which insufficient members were elected, in the manner provided for in Section 7212.

§ 7212

Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.

In the event of the appointment or election to a committee of an ineligible person, or whenever any member of the committee dies, resigns or becomes incapacitated to act, or removes from the jurisdiction of the committee, or ceases to be a member of this party, a vacancy exists which shall be filled by appointment by the committee in which the ineligibility or vacancy occurs. A vacancy shall also exist on a committee when a member is removed from the committee pursuant to Section 7213 or 7215.

§ 7213

Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.

Any member of a committee, other than an ex officio member, who misses more than three consecutive regularly called meetings may be removed by a vote of the committee concerned, unless his or her absence is caused by illness or temporary absence from the county on the date of the meeting.

§ 7214

Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.

The removal of residence by an elected or appointed member of a committee from the Assembly district or supervisor district from which he or she has been elected or appointed a member of that committee shall constitute his or her automatic resignation from the committee.

§ 7215

Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.

A committee may remove any member, other than an ex officio member, who during his or her term of membership affiliates with, or registers as a member of another party, who publicly advocates that the voters should not vote for the nominee of this party for any office, or who gives support or avows a preference for a candidate of another party or candidate who is opposed to a candidate nominated by this party.

§ 7216

Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.

Whenever any person is appointed to fill a vacancy on a committee, the chairperson of the committee shall file notices of the appointment with the elections official and the chairperson of the state central committee within 30 days after it is made. The notices shall contain the name and address of the person appointed and the name of the person replaced, and shall indicate the date of the appointment.