City of Sacramento
City Council Report
915 I Street, 1st Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2022-01406 7/26/2022 Consent Item 13.
Title: Candidate Statement Regulations for the November 8, 2022 General Municipal Election File ID: 2022-01406
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Adopt a Resolution adopting regulations for candidate statements to be submitted to the voters at the November 8, 2022 Municipal Election.
Contact: Mindy Cuppy, City Clerk, (916) 808-5442, [email protected]; Wendy Klock- Johnson, Chief Assistant City Clerk, (916) 808-7509, [email protected], Office of the City Clerk
Presenter: None
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Resolution
Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: Prior to an election, the City shall adopt a resolution that establishes regulations for the preparation of, and payment for, processing candidate statements. These statements will be submitted for inclusion in the official sample ballot. The candidate statement is optional. The statement may include the candidate's name, age, occupation, and a brief description of no more than 200 words describing the candidate's education and qualifications expressed by the candidate themselves and must comply with formatting requirements.
Each candidate filing a statement is required to pay in advance an estimated pro rata share as a condition of having the statement included in the official sample ballot. In compliance with minority language provisions of the Federal Voting Rights Act, statements shall be printed in the sample ballot in English, Spanish, and Chinese.
The Sacramento County Registrar of Voter's Office has estimated the following pro rata shares City of Sacramento Page 1 of 2
File ID: 2022-01406 7/26/2022 Consent Item 13.
sufficient to cover the costs of translation, printing, handling, and mailing. These amounts are based on current registration figures. The estimate is an approximation of the actual cost that varies from one election to another and may be significantly more or less than the estimate, depending on the actual number of candidates filing statements.
Accordingly, the Clerk is not bound by the estimate and may, on a pro rata basis, bill the candidate for additional actual expenses or refund any excess paid depending on the actual cost. In the event of underpayment, the City Clerk may require the candidate to pay the balance of the cost incurred. In the event of overpayment, the City Clerk shall prorate the excess amount among the candidates and refund the excess amount paid within 30 days of receiving the actual costs from the Sacramento County Registrar of Voter's Office.
The estimated cost for each candidate filing a statement is as follows:
District 1 - $750.00
District 3 - $750.00
District 5 - $700.00
Policy Considerations: This procedure is established in accordance with California Elections Code section 13307.
Economic Impacts: None.
Environmental Considerations: None.
Sustainability: None.
Commission/Committee Action: None.
Rationale for Recommendation: Each candidate for nonpartisan elective office in any local agency, including any city, county, city and county, or district, may prepare a candidate’s statement on an appropriate form provided by the elections official.
Financial Considerations: The adoption of this regulation will establish the cost of including the optional candidate statement in the official sample ballot. The funds received will be deposited into the General Fund and be used to offset the overall costs incurred.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.
City of Sacramento Page 2 of 2
RESOLUTION NO.
Adopted by the Sacramento City Council
Date Adopted
Adopting Regulations and Cost for Candidates for Elective Office Pertaining to Candidate Statement Submitted to the Voters at a General Election to be Held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022
BACKGROUND
A. The Sacramento City Council has called a General Election to be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022 to fill offices for Council Districts 1, 3, and 5.
B. California Elections Code section 13307(f) requires that the City shall determine if an estimated candidate statement charge shall be levied against candidates.
BASED ON THE FACTS SET FORTH IN THE BACKGROUND, THE CITY COUNCIL RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS Pursuant to Section 13307 of the California Elections Code, each candidate for elective office to be voted for at an election to be held in the City of Sacramento, California, on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, may prepare a candidate's statement on an appropriate form provided by the City Clerk. The statement may include the name, age and occupation of the candidate and a brief description of no more than 200 words of the candidate's education and qualifications expressed by the candidate himself or herself. The statement shall not include party affiliation of the candidate, nor membership or activity in partisan political organizations. The statement shall be prepared in typewritten form and be filed in the Office of the City Clerk no later than the 88th day prior to the election. The statement may be withdrawn, but not changed, until the close of business of the next working day after the 88th day prior to the election.
Section 2. ADDITIONAL MATERIALS No candidate shall be permitted to include additional materials in the sample ballot package.
Section 3. FOREIGN LANGUAGE POLICY Pursuant to the Federal Voting Rights Act, candidate statements shall be translated into all languages required by the County of Sacramento. The County is required to translate candidate statements into Spanish and Chinese.
The County shall print and mail official sample ballots containing candidate statements to all voters in English, Spanish, and Chinese. The County shall make the official sample ballots in the required languages available at all voting center locations and in the County Election Official’s office.
Section 4. PAYMENT The Sacramento County Registrar of Voters has estimated the cost of printing, handling, translating, and mailing the candidate’s statement filed pursuant to this section, including costs incurred as a result of complying with the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (as amended), and the City requires each candidate filing a statement to pay in advance their estimated pro rata share as a condition of having their statement included in the official sample ballot. The estimate is an approximation of the actual cost that varies from one election to another and may be significantly more or less than the estimate, depending on the actual number of candidates filing statements. Accordingly, the Clerk is not bound by the estimate and may, on a pro rata basis, bill the candidate for additional actual expenses or refund any excess paid depending on the actual cost. In the event of underpayment, the City Clerk may require the candidate to pay the balance of the cost incurred. In the event of overpayment, the City Clerk shall prorate the excess amount among the candidates and refund the excess amount paid within 30 days of receiving the actual costs from the County Registrar of Voters.
The estimated cost for each candidate filing a statement is as follows:
District 1 - $750.00; District 3 - $750.00; and District 5 - $700.00. Payment of the deposit shall be by cash, money order, or check payable to the City of Sacramento.
Section 5. MISCELLANEOUS All translations shall be provided by a professionally certified translator procured by the Sacramento County Elections Official.
Candidates may not translate their own candidate statements.
The statement of each candidate shall be printed in type that is of uniform size and darkness, and with uniform spacing. Candidates may not use underlining; ALL CAPS (with the exception of acronyms or abbreviations); italics; bold print; dashes (--); bullets (□); stars («) or other forms of emphasis; tables or lists, one-line paragraphs; multiple punctuation; “….” or “------”; etc. Publication names and titles that are referenced are not to be underlined.
In order for the statement to fit onto one page in the official sample ballot, the maximum number of paragraphs is five. If the statement exceeds five paragraphs, the elections official will combine paragraphs starting at the end of the statement until the paragraph count is correct.
Statements containing endorsements must be accompanied by a written authorization letter(s) from the person(s) and/or organization(s) offering the endorsement at the time the statement is submitted. Letters must be signed and dated. Statements containing the name of someone other than the candidate must be accompanied by an original letter from the named person grating permission to use their name in this manner. Letters must be signed and dated. Other candidates may not be referenced in the candidate statement.
Statements exceeding 200 words in length shall be shortened by removing words from the end of the statement until the word limit is reached. The standard word count as provided in the Elections Code shall be used. Geographical names of cities, counties, and states (ex: City of Sacramento) shall be counted as one word. Regularly hyphenated words appearing in any generally available standard reference dictionary published in the United States within 10 years preceding the election shall be counted as one word. Date, monetary amounts, and whole numbers containing digits only shall be counted as one word (ex: 01/01/1900, $100.00, or 100). Telephone numbers and internet addresses shall be counted as one word.
Misspellings or other errors in the statement are the responsibility of the statement author.
Section 6. The City Clerk shall provide each candidate or the candidate's representative the information included in this resolution.
Section 7. All previous resolutions establishing City Council policy on payment for candidate statements are repealed.
Section 8. This resolution shall apply only to the election to be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022.
Section 9. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this resolution and enter it into the book of original resolutions.