City of Sacramento
City Council - 2PM Report
915 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2024-00613 5/28/2024 Consent Item 1.
Candidate Statement Regulations for the November 5, 2024 Municipal Election File ID: 2024-00613
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Adopt a Resolution setting regulations for candidate statements to be submitted to the voters at the November 5, 2024 Municipal Election.
Contact: Sydney Christoffersen, Administrative Analyst, (916) 808-5754, Office of the City Clerk, [email protected]; Mindy Cuppy, City Clerk, (916) 808-5442, Office of the City Clerk, [email protected]
Presenter: None.
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Resolution Pertaining to Regulation of Candidate Statements 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 are submitted with a candidate’s nomination papers and are 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 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 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 form one election to another and may be significantly more or less than the estimate, depending on the
File ID: 2024-00613 5/28/2024 Consent Item 1.
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 Voter’s Office.
Mayoral - $12,220.00
District 2 - $1,230.00
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: This action is necessary to regulate the candidate statements for the November 5, 2024 Municipal Election.
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. The cost of a candidate statement is passed on to the candidate and therefore there is no cost to the City.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): None.
RESOLUTION NO. 2024-XXXX
Adopted by the Sacramento City Council
DATE ADOPTED
Adopting Regulations and Cost for Candidates for Elective Office Pertaining to Candidate Statements Submitted to the Voters at a Municipal Election to be Held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024
BACKGROUND
A. The Sacramento City Council has called a Municipal Election to be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, to fill offices for the Mayor and Council District 2.
B. California Elections Code section 13307(f) requires that the City shall determine if an estimate 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 5, 2024, 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 themself. This shall be written in first-person narrative utilizing pronouns such as “I,” “Me,” and “We.” 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 electronically in the Office of the City Clerk at the time the candidate’s nomination papers are filed, in the system prescribed by the City Clerk. The statement may be withdrawn during the period for filing nomination papers and until the close of business of the next working day after the close of the nomination period. The statement shall not be changed for any reason, including typographical error, after it is filed in the Office of the City Clerk.
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 Sacramento County Registrar of Voters (Registrar) is required to translate candidate statements into Spanish and Chinese.
The Registrar shall print and mail official sample ballots containing candidate statements to all voters in English, Spanish, and Chinese. The Registrar shall make the official sample ballots in the required languages available at all voting center locations and in the Sacramento 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 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 Voters.
The estimate cost for each candidate filing a statement is as follows:
Mayor - $12,220.00
District 2 - $1,230.00
Payment of the deposit shall be by cash, money order, or check payable to the City of Sacramento.
SECTION 5.
MISCELLANEOUS. All translations from English shall be provided by a professionally certified translator procured by the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters. 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; italics; bold print; dashes (--); bullets (•); stars (★) or other forms of emphasis; one-line paragraphs; multiple punctuation; emojis or emoticons; “----” 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. One-line paragraphs are not permitted. 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 shall 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 a person other than the candidate shall be accompanied by an original letter from the named person granting permission to use their name in this manner.
Letters must be signed and dated. Statements containing the name of any organization must be accompanied by an original letter from the named organization signed and dated by an officer authorized to do so by the organization.
Statements exceeding 200 words in length shall be shortened by the election official 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. Words in statements containing hyphens, that are not found in the dictionary as described above, shall be counted as individual words.
Dates, 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 a copy of this resolution at the time nominating petitions are issued.
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 5, 2024, and shall then be repealed.
SECTION 9.
The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this Resolution and enter it into the book of original resolutions.