San Diego County Elective Offices to be Held at a General Election and Requiring Adoption of Local Regulations Relating to Write-In Candidates for County Elective Office
County Charter Amendments
Official Summary
Shall this initiative measure, proposing county charter amendments requiring all elections for San Diego County Elective Offices to be held at a general election and requiring adoption of local regulations relating to write-in candidates for county elective office, be adopted?
Notes
Currently, if a county office candidate receives a majority of the votes (+50%) in the primary, that candidate is elected and the office does not appear on the general election ballot. This measure would change it so that every office goes to the general election. One argument is that those elected to office in the primary cycle are elected by a vastly smaller voting electorate than in a general election.
If there are 2 or less candidates for a county office, they will skip the primary ballot and be placed on the general election ballot.
Write-in candidates would need to qualifying before the printing of the primary ballot, which is inconsistent with state election laws. Also currently write-in candidates cannot appear on the general election ballot. This measure would allow a write in candidate to appear on the general election ballot if the primary had 2 or fewer candidates.