Cal. ELEC § 8020.5 — California Code / Code elec / Division 8 / Part 1 / Chapter 1 / Article 2 / Section 8020.5
Section 8020.5
Status: in_force

(a) A candidate may withdraw nomination documents for any office other than a statewide office that the candidate delivered for filing to the county elections official by delivering a statement of withdrawal to the county elections official. The statement may be delivered to the county elections official by a person other than the candidate. If the statement is not executed by the candidate in the office of the elections official, the candidate shall execute the statement before a notary public appointed by the Secretary of State or other state official. The statement shall be signed by the candidate under penalty of perjury, and shall include all of the following:

(1) Identification of the office for which the candidate previously delivered nomination documents for filing to the county elections official.

(2) A statement that the candidate irrevocably withdraws those nomination documents.

(3) A statement that the candidate understands that by withdrawing the nomination documents, the candidate will not appear on the ballot as a candidate for that office.

(4) A statement that the candidate understands that they will not receive a refund of any filing fees that the candidate paid in connection with the candidacy for that office pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 8105 of the Elections Code.

(b) A candidate shall have until 5 p.m. on the 88th day before the primary election to withdraw nomination documents, except that if the extended period for filing nomination documents specified in Section 8022 or Section 8024 applies for a particular office, a candidate shall have until 5 p.m. on the 83rd day before the primary election to withdraw nomination documents for that office.

(c) A candidate who withdraws nomination documents pursuant to this section may, during the applicable filing period, file nomination documents for any other office at the same primary election for which the person is eligible to be a candidate, except the office for which the person withdrew their nomination documents. This subdivision shall not be construed to extend any deadline for filing nomination documents.

(d) If a candidate withdraws their nomination documents and does not subsequently qualify as a candidate for another office at the same primary election, the candidate’s name shall not appear on the ballot for any office at that election.

(e) If a candidate delivers a statement of withdrawal to a county elections official pursuant to this section, and the office to which the statement applies is one for which nomination documents are required to be filed in the office of the Secretary of State pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 8100, the county elections official shall do all of the following:

(1) Immediately upon receipt, electronically send a copy of the statement to the Secretary of State.

(2) If the office to which the statement applies is to be voted on in more than one county, immediately upon receipt electronically send a copy of the statement to the elections official in each other affected county.

(3) Within five days of receipt of the statement, forward the original statement to the Secretary of State.

(f) For purposes of this section, “statewide office” means the office of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Controller, Insurance Commissioner, Secretary of State, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Treasurer, or Member of the United States Senate.