CALIFORNIA STATUTES AND CODES
SECTIONS 7200-7216
ELECTIONS CODE
SECTION 7200-7216
7200. In each county containing less than five Assembly districts,
a county committee shall be elected by supervisor districts, and the
number to be elected from any supervisor district shall be determined
as follows: There shall be taken the number of votes cast in the
supervisor district at the last gubernatorial election for that party'
s candidate for Governor, or, if the party had no candidate for
Governor, for the candidate of the party voted on throughout the
state who received the greatest number of votes and who was the
candidate of that party alone. This number shall be divided by
one-twentieth of the number of votes cast in that county for Governor
or, where the party had no candidate for Governor, for the candidate
mentioned above. The integer next larger than the quotient obtained
by that division shall constitute the number of members of the
committee to be elected by that party in that supervisor district.
The committees in counties containing less than five Assembly
districts shall be composed of not less than 21 members. If the
procedure outlined above would result in less than 21 members being
elected for any committee, the number of votes cast for this party's
candidate in each supervisor district shall be divided by an amount
sufficiently smaller than one-twentieth of the votes cast for
Governor in that county as to give a membership in the committee
equal to or the nearest amount which is greater than 21 members.
In a county of the eighth class as defined in Section 28029 of the
Government Code, the county central committee by resolution may
provide for the election of 25 central committee members to represent
25 individual central committee districts. Each member shall reside
in the district he or she represents, but shall be elected at large
within the Assembly district in which the county central committee
district he or she represents is located.
The county central committee shall reapportion itself at least
every 10 years, prior to the June primary election of that year. Each
district shall be apportioned on the basis of the number of
registered Democrats for the June primary in each even-numbered year,
with no more than a 10-percent deviation from the average. Each
district shall be compact, contiguous, and utilize any natural and
neighborhood boundaries. The district boundaries shall not cut across
any precinct district's lines as drawn by the elections official for
the last general or consolidated election.
7201. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in a county of
the fifth class as defined in Section 28026 of the Government Code,
the elected members of the county central committee shall be elected
by Assembly districts and shall consist of six members elected from
each Assembly district, whether wholly or partly within the county,
provided each such member is a resident of the county and of the
Assembly district which the member represents. Only a person who is a
resident of the county may vote for a candidate for membership to
the county central committee and may vote only for candidates seeking
to represent the Assembly district in which the voter resides.
7202. In each county containing more than four and less than 20
Assembly districts, a county central committee shall be elected from
Assembly districts and shall consist of six members elected from each
Assembly district.
7203. In each county containing 20 or more Assembly districts a
county central committee shall consist of seven members elected from
each Assembly district contained either wholly or partially within
the county. In an Assembly district that lies only partially within a
county containing 20 or more Assembly districts, the seven members
shall be elected from that portion of the Assembly district contained
within the county.
7204. In each city and county a county central committee shall be
elected by Assembly districts and shall consist of 12 members elected
from Assembly District 12, and 12 members elected from Assembly
District 13.
7205. Notwithstanding this article, each county central committee
by resolution may provide for the election of all or a portion of
central committee members to represent individual central committee
districts. The member shall reside in the district he or she
represents but shall be elected at large within the Assembly district
in which the county central committee district he or she represents
is located.
The county central committee shall reapportion itself at least
every 10 years, prior to the June primary election of that year. Each
district shall be apportioned on the basis of the number of
registered Democrats for the June primary in each even-numbered year,
with no more than a 10-percent deviation from the average. Each
district shall be compact, contiguous, and utilize any natural and
neighborhood boundaries. The district boundaries shall not cut across
any district lines of a precinct as drawn by the elections official
for the last general or consolidated election.
7206. In each county the nominee of this party for Senator or the
incumbent Senator, the nominees of this party for the Assembly, and
any person elected to either the Senate or Assembly at a special
election to fill a vacancy in that house, and the nominee of this
party for Representative in Congress, and any person elected at a
special election to fill a vacancy in the House of Representatives,
shall be ex officio members of this committee. If the person elected
from one party at the special election for an Assembly or Senate
seat, or for the House of Representatives, shall be other than the
nominee of that party for the same office at the prior election, the
ex officio membership of the nominee shall expire immediately upon
certification by the Secretary of State of the election. Ex officio
members shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges, including
the right to vote, and shall have the same standing in every way as
other members of this committee, except they shall not be entitled to
a ballot designation of incumbent upon seeking election to this
committee in the next direct primary.
7207. The incumbent or nominee of each of the following offices
shall be an ex officio member of the committee in the county in which
he or she resides:
(a) Governor.
(b) Lieutenant Governor.
(c) Secretary of State.
(d) Controller.
(e) Treasurer.
(f) Attorney General.
(g) Member of the State Board of Equalization.
(h) United States Senator from California.
His or her rights and privileges shall be the same as those
prescribed for other ex officio members in Section 7206.
7208. A committee may authorize any member of that committee,
whether elected or ex officio, to appoint an alternate if a member
desires to appoint an alternate. An incumbent Member of the Senate or
Assembly at the time of the meeting of the committee may appoint an
alternate member without authorization from that committee, if the
member desires to appoint an alternate.
That alternate member shall have the right to vote only with the
written authorization of the member who appointed him or her. An
alternate member of a county central committee shall be subject to
the rules and regulations of the committee.
An alternate member must meet the same qualifications as the
regular member and may vote only in the absence of the member who
appointed him or her.
7209. A person shall not be eligible for appointment or election to
a committee who is not registered as affiliated with this party at
the time of his or her appointment or election.
7210. Each member of a committee, whether elected to the committee
or appointed to fill a vacancy, before he or she enters upon the
duties of his office, shall take and subscribe the oath or
affirmation set forth in Section 3 of Article XX of the Constitution.
The oath or affirmation required by this section may be taken
before any officer authorized to administer oaths and no fee shall be
charged by any person before whom the oath is taken or subscribed.
7211. In the event that the candidates elected to a committee from
a district do not equal the number of party committeepersons to which
the district is entitled to be represented, a vacancy or vacancies
exist to the extent of the difference between the number of elected
committeepersons and the number of committeepersons by which the
district is entitled to be represented. When the vacancy or vacancies
exist they shall be filled by the committee to which insufficient
members were elected, in the manner provided for in Section 7212.
7212. In the event of the appointment or election to a committee of
an ineligible person, or whenever any member of the committee dies,
resigns or becomes incapacitated to act, or removes from the
jurisdiction of the committee, or ceases to be a member of this
party, a vacancy exists which shall be filled by appointment by the
committee in which the ineligibility or vacancy occurs. A vacancy
shall also exist on a committee when a member is removed from the
committee pursuant to Section 7213 or 7215.
7213. Any member of a committee, other than an ex officio member,
who misses more than three consecutive regularly called meetings may
be removed by a vote of the committee concerned, unless his or her
absence is caused by illness or temporary absence from the county on
the date of the meeting.
7214. The removal of residence by an elected or appointed member of
a committee from the Assembly district or supervisor district from
which he or she has been elected or appointed a member of that
committee shall constitute his or her automatic resignation from the
committee.
7215. A committee may remove any member, other than an ex officio
member, who during his or her term of membership affiliates with, or
registers as a member of another party, who publicly advocates that
the voters should not vote for the nominee of this party for any
office, or who gives support or avows a preference for a candidate of
another party or candidate who is opposed to a candidate nominated
by this party.
7216. Whenever any person is appointed to fill a vacancy on a
committee, the chairperson of the committee shall file notices of the
appointment with the elections official and the chairperson of the
state central committee within 30 days after it is made. The notices
shall contain the name and address of the person appointed and the
name of the person replaced, and shall indicate the date of the
appointment.