Elections in California

Last updated

United States presidential election results for California [1]
Year Republican  /  Whig Democratic Third party(ies)
No.%No.%No.%
2024 6,081,69738.32%9,276,17958.45%513,3843.23%
2020 6,006,51834.26%11,110,63963.37%414,6882.37%
2016 4,483,81431.48%8,753,79261.46%1,005,8437.06%
2012 4,839,95837.07%7,854,28560.16%361,5722.77%
2008 5,011,78136.90%8,274,47360.92%296,8292.19%
2004 5,509,82644.36%6,745,48554.30%166,5481.34%
2000 4,567,42941.65%5,861,20353.45%537,2244.90%
1996 3,828,38038.21%5,119,83551.10%1,071,26910.69%
1992 3,630,57432.61%5,121,32546.01%2,379,82221.38%
1988 5,054,91751.13%4,702,23347.56%129,9141.31%
1984 5,467,00957.51%3,922,51941.27%115,8951.22%
1980 4,524,85852.69%3,083,66135.91%978,54411.40%
1976 3,882,24449.35%3,742,28447.57%242,5893.08%
1972 4,602,09655.00%3,475,84741.54%289,9193.46%
1968 3,467,66447.82%3,244,31844.74%539,6057.44%
1964 2,879,10840.79%4,171,87759.11%6,6010.09%
1960 3,259,72250.10%3,224,09949.55%22,7570.35%
1956 3,027,66855.39%2,420,13544.27%18,5520.34%
1952 2,897,31056.35%2,197,54842.74%46,9910.91%
1948 1,895,26947.13%1,913,13447.57%213,1355.30%
1944 1,512,96542.97%1,988,56456.48%19,3460.55%
1940 1,351,41941.34%1,877,61857.44%39,7541.22%
1936 836,43131.70%1,766,83666.95%35,6151.35%
1932 847,90237.39%1,324,15758.39%95,9074.23%
1928 1,162,32364.69%614,36534.19%19,9681.11%
1924 733,25057.20%105,5148.23%443,13634.57%
1920 624,99266.20%229,19124.28%89,8679.52%
1916 462,51646.27%466,28946.65%70,7987.08%
1912 3,9140.58%283,43641.81%390,59457.61%
1908 214,39855.46%127,49232.98%44,70711.56%
1904 205,22661.84%89,40426.94%37,24811.22%
1900 164,75554.37%124,98541.25%13,2644.38%
1896 146,68849.16%144,76648.51%6,9652.33%
1892 118,02743.78%118,17443.83%33,40812.39%
1888 124,81649.66%117,72946.84%8,7943.50%
1884 102,36951.97%89,28845.33%5,3312.71%
1880 80,28248.89%80,42648.98%3,5102.14%
1876 79,25850.88%76,46049.08%660.04%
1872 54,00756.38%40,71742.51%1,0611.11%
1868 54,58850.24%54,06849.76%00.00%
1864 62,05358.60%43,83741.40%00.00%
1860 38,73332.32%37,99931.71%43,09535.96%
1856 20,70418.78%53,34248.38%36,20932.84%
1852 35,97246.83%40,72153.02%1170.15%

Elections in California are held to fill various local, state and federal seats. In California, regular elections are held every even year (such as 2006 and 2008); however, some seats have terms of office that are longer than two years, so not every seat is on the ballot in every election. Special elections may be held to fill vacancies at other points in time. Recall elections can also be held. Additionally, statewide initiatives, legislative referrals and referendums may be on the ballot.

Contents

In a 2022 study, California was ranked as the 6th easiest state for citizens to vote in. [2]

Elected offices

Federal

As with every other state in the United States, California participates in federal elections including electing representatives to the House of Representatives, and senators to the Senate. Additionally, the state casts 54 votes in the Electoral College during presidential elections.

President

Every four years, the United States holds a national indirect election for president and vice president of the United States. In such elections, voters cast their votes for a slate of representatives (electors) who have pledged to cast their votes for a particular presidential and vice presidential candidate (a ticket) in the Electoral College. During the election, the voters of the state select the slate of electors on the ballot by voting for the ticket that they are pledged to. The slate of electors pledged to the ticket with the most votes statewide gets to vote in the Electoral College. Although, the electors are not obligated to vote for the candidates they are pledged to, they usually do. The number of electors the state is allocated is equal to the number of representatives in Congress that the state has (the members in the House of Representatives, plus the two senators).

Senate

California, like all other states in the United States, is represented in the United States Senate by two senators. In addition to representatives in the House of Representatives, California's senators represent the state's constituents in Congress. Alex Padilla and Laphonza Butler currently serve as the state's senators. Each senator is elected to serve a six-year term with Kamala Harris having last been elected in 2016 and Feinstein in 2018. After Kamala Harris was elected as Vice President in 2020, Padilla was appointed to serve the remainder of her term. Each U.S. senator is elected in a statewide election following earlier primary elections typically held in the first week of June during which both major national parties (the Democrats and Republicans) and minor parties nominate candidates via popular vote. There is no limit to the number of terms that a senator may serve so long as they continue to be elected to the position via statewide vote.

House of Representatives

Similarly, California is also represented in the US Congress by fifty-two members of Congress representing the fifty-two congressional districts in the state. [3] As in all other states, these congressional districts are reapportioned every ten years following the release of a new census. Due to its status as the most populous state in the union, [4] California has the largest number of representatives of any single state in Congress. These representatives are elected for two-year terms as per the rules of the House of Representatives and currently feature a number of prominent members of the body such as former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.

State

California has a gubernatorial election every four years, and in 2003 and 2021, gubernatorial recall elections were held. Primary elections were held in March or June until 2008, when they were held in February. General elections, which cover statewide issues, continue to be held in November. On a county-by-county basis, elections also cover electing municipal leaders. In addition, a special election can occur at any time.

State Senate

Due to a combination of the state's large population and a legislature that has not been expanded since the ratification of the 1879 Constitution, [5] the State Senate has the largest population per state senator ratio of any state legislative house. Members of the State Senate serve four-year terms. Every two years, half of the Senate's 40 seats are subject to election.

State Assembly

The lower house of the California State Legislature is the "California State Assembly". Every two years, all 80 seats in the Assembly are subject to election. Members elected to the Assembly prior to 2012 are restricted by term limits to three two-year terms (six years), while those elected in or after 2012 are allowed to serve 12 years in the legislature in any combination of four-year State Senate or two-year State Assembly terms. [6]

Local

In addition, many if not most of California's county, city, school district, community college district, health care district, municipal utility district, transit district and other special district officers are elected. Per the California Secretary of State website, "political parties are not entitled to nominate candidates for nonpartisan offices at the primary election, and a candidate at the primary election is not the official nominee of any party for the specific office at the general election. [However, parties may endorse candidates.] A candidate for nomination to a nonpartisan office may not designate his or her party preference, or lack of party preference, on the ballot."

Effective January 1, 2018, all of California's cities, K-12 school districts, community college districts and special districts will have to move their election dates to a statewide election (primary or general) held during an even-numbered year due to the passage of Senate Bill 415 (California Voter Participation Rights Act), which was approved by the California Senate and Assembly and signed by the Governor in 2015. The 2018 elections will be held on June 5 (primary) and November 6 (general). Starting in 2020, the presidential primary will move to March which also include the U.S. House of Representatives, California State Senate and Assembly and County Boards of Supervisors. U.S. Senate primary in California will take place in March 2022. Los Angeles City Council and School Board will have its primary election in March and its runoff election in November beginning in 2020, due to the passage of Charter Amendments 1 and 2 during the 2015 elections.

Voting rights and voter powers

Voting rights in California
Flag of California.svg
Map of USA CA.svg
Demographics
Poll taxesAbolished 1914
Literacy tests abolishedN/A
Minimum voting age18
Preregistration age16
Felon voting statusAllowed to vote upon release
Voter registration
Voter registration requiredYes
Online voter registrationYes
Automatic voter registrationYes
Same-day registrationYes
Partisan affiliationYes
Voting process
Free elections requirementYes
Polling place identification requirementsNot required
In-person early-voting status29 days prior up to the day before
Out-of-precinct voting statusN/A
Postal ballot statusNo-excuse required
Permanent list postal ballot statusany voter
Ballot collection statusany trusted person
Straight-ticket device status No
Election methodTop-two voting via nonpartisan blanket primary
Means of casting in-person ballotsAll-mail voting; hand-marked paper ballots and ballot-marking devices on Election Day
Voter powers
Redistricting system Independent non-partisan redistricting commission
Prison-based redistrictingNo
Ballot question rights Initiative and referendum for both statute and constitutional amendment
Recall powersFor all offices
Federal representation levelState-level

Districting

Procedure

Pursuant to Proposition 14 (2010), California uses a nonpartisan blanket primary for "voter-nominated" offices, which include: [7]

In this system voters may vote for any candidate in the primary and the top two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the general election. Elections for president, vice president, political party state central committees, and county central committees are "party-nominated". [7]

Candidates may qualify in one of two ways: by payment of a fee, or by the collection of registered voters' signatures on an in-lieu-of-filing-fee petition. [8] Candidates must also file a "candidate intention statement" with the Secretary of State, as well as nomination forms with their home county. [8]

Ballot propositions

A ballot proposition is a proposed law that is submitted to the electorate for approval in a direct vote (or plebiscite). It may take the form of a constitutional amendment or an ordinary statute. A ballot proposition may be proposed by the State Legislature or by a petition signed by members of the public under the initiative system. In California a vote on a measure referred to voters by the legislature is a mandatory referendum; a vote to veto a law that has already been adopted by the legislature is an optional referendum or "people's veto"; the process of proposing laws by petition is the initiative.

Political parties

There are six qualified political parties: [9]

Political bodies attempting to qualify as a political party are: [10]

Only the Democratic Party and Republican Party currently have representation in the State Legislature. However, Audie Bock, a member of the Green Party, was elected in 1999 during the 1998–99 California special elections.

Local elections in California at the county and city level are officially non-partisan and political party affiliations are not included on local election ballots.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Electoral College</span> Electors of the U.S. president and vice president

In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years during the presidential election for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president. The process is described in Article Two of the Constitution. The number of electoral votes exercised by each state is equal to that state's congressional delegation which is the number of Senators (two) plus the number of Representatives for that state. Each state appoints electors using legal procedures determined by its legislature. Federal office holders, including senators and representatives, cannot be electors. Additionally, the Twenty-third Amendment granted the federal District of Columbia three electors. A simple majority of electoral votes is required to elect the president and vice president. If no candidate achieves a majority, a contingent election is held by the House of Representatives, to elect the president, and by the Senate, to elect the vice president.

Ballot access are rules and procedures regulating the right to candidacy, the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots in elections in the United States.

In the election of the United States held for government officials at the federal, state, and local levels. At the federal level, the nation's head of state, the president, is elected indirectly by the people of each state, through an Electoral College. Today, these electors almost always vote with the popular vote of their state. All members of the federal legislature, the Congress, are directly elected by the people of each state. There are many elected offices at state level, each state having at least an elective governor and legislature. There are also elected offices at the local level, in counties, cities, towns, townships, boroughs, and villages; as well as for special districts and school districts which may transcend county and municipal boundaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in New York (state)</span>

The results of elections in the state of New York have tended to be more Democratic-leaning than in most of the United States, with in recent decades a solid majority of Democratic voters, concentrated in New York City and some of its suburbs, including Westchester County, Rockland County and Long Island's Nassau county, and in the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, and Ithaca.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 United States presidential election in California</span>

The 2008 United States presidential election in California took place on November 4, 2008, in California as part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 55 electors, the most out of any of the 50 states, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Hawaii</span>

Elections in Hawaii are held for various local, state, and federal seats in the state of Hawaii. Regular elections are held every even year, although special elections may be held to fill vacancies at other points in time. The primary election is held on the second Saturday in August, while the general election is held on Election Day, which is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts</span>

The 2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place, as in all 50 states and D.C., as part of the 2008 United States presidential election of November 4, 2008. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who, in turn, voted for the office of president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 United States presidential election in Delaware</span>

The 2008 United States presidential election in Delaware took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States presidential election</span> An election in United States of America

The election of the president and for vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not directly for those offices, but instead for members of the Electoral College. These electors then cast direct votes, known as electoral votes, for president and for vice president. The candidate who receives an absolute majority of electoral votes is then elected to that office. If no candidate receives an absolute majority of the votes for president, the House of Representatives elects the president; likewise if no one receives an absolute majority of the votes for vice president, then the Senate elects the vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Kansas</span>

The number of elections in Kansas varies by year. Kansas has a gubernatorial election every four years. Members of the state's United States congressional delegation run for election or re-election at the times set out in the United States Constitution. Primary elections assist in choosing political parties' nominees for various positions. On a regional basis, elections also cover municipal issues. In addition, a special election can occur at any time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Connecticut</span>

Various kinds of elections in Connecticut occurs annually in each of the state's cities and towns, the exact type of which is dependent on the year. Elections for federal and statewide offices occur in even-numbered years, while municipal elections occur in odd-numbered ones. The office of the Connecticut Secretary of State oversees the election process, including voting and vote counting. In a 2020 study, Connecticut was ranked as the 20th easiest state for citizens to vote in.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 California Proposition 14</span>

Proposition 14 is a California ballot proposition that appeared on the ballot during the June 2010 state elections. It was a constitutional amendment that effectively transformed California's non-presidential elections from first-past-the-post to a nonpartisan blanket primary. The proposition was legislatively referred to voters by the State Legislature and approved by 54% of the voters. It consolidated all partisan primaries for a particular office into an election with one ballot that would be identical to all voters, regardless of their party preferences. The two candidates with the most votes in the primary election would then be the only candidates who would run in the general election, regardless of their party affiliation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Idaho</span>

Some type of election in Idaho occurs annually in each of the state's cities and towns, the exact type of which is dependent on the year. Elections for federal and statewide offices occur in even-numbered years, while municipal elections occur in odd-numbered years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 North Dakota elections</span>

North Dakota held two statewide elections in 2016: a primary election on Tuesday, June 14, and a general election on Tuesday, November 8. In addition, each township elected officers on Tuesday, March 15, and each school district selected a date between April 1 and June 30 to hold their elections. This would have been the first election since the state legislature revoked the ability to use a student or military ID to satisfy state ID voting requirements, but a court ruling in August struck the down the provision, and the election was held under the 2013 rules.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in North Dakota</span>

Statewide elections in the U.S. state of North Dakota take place every two years. Most executive offices and all legislators are elected to four-year terms, with half the terms expiring on U.S. Presidential election years, and the other half expiring on mid-term election years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 California elections</span>

California state elections in 2016 were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, with the primary elections being held on June 7, 2016. In addition to the U.S. presidential race, California voters elected one member to the United States Senate, all of California's seats to the House of Representatives, all of the seats of the State Assembly, and all odd-numbered seats of the State Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 California elections</span>

The California state elections in 2020 were held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Unlike previous election cycles, the primary elections were held on Super Tuesday, March 3, 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 North Dakota elections</span>

North Dakota held two statewide elections in 2020: a primary election on Tuesday, June 9, and a general election on Tuesday, November 3. In addition, each township elected officers on Tuesday, March 17, and each school district held their elections on a date of their choosing between April 1 and June 30.

A general election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 3, 2020. All seats in the Minnesota Senate and Minnesota House of Representatives were up for election as well as several judicial seats, Minnesota's 10 presidential electors, a United States Senate seat, Minnesota's eight seats in the United States House of Representatives, and several positions for local offices. A primary election to nominate major party candidates and several judicial and local primary elections were held on August 11, 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 California elections</span>

Elections in the U.S. state of California took place on November 5, 2024, with the statewide direct primary election being held on March 5, 2024.

References

  1. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Presidential General Election Results Comparison - California". Uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  2. Corasaniti, Nick; McCann, Allison (2022-09-20). "The 'Cost' of Voting in America: A Look at Where It's Easiest and Hardest". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  3. "California Senators, Representatives, and Congressional District Maps - GovTrack.us". GovTrack.us. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  4. Promotions, Center for New Media and; Bureau, Public Information Staff, US Census. "US Census Bureau 2010 Census". Census.gov. Retrieved 17 October 2017.{{cite web}}: |last2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. "California Constitution of 1879, prior to any amendments" (PDF). California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 27, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  6. "California Constitution Article IV; Legislative". California Office of Legislative Counsel . Archived from the original on February 23, 2019. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  7. 1 2 "Voting in the Primary Election". League of Women Voters California. April 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Ballot access requirements for political candidates in California: Process to become a candidate". Ballotpedia .
  9. "Qualified Political Parties - California Secretary of State". Sos.ca.gov. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  10. "Political Bodies Attempting to Qualify as Political Parties". California Secretary of State. Retrieved 14 January 2023.

Bibliography