Alhambra Municipal Code Art. XVII Elections

A. Increasingly high campaign expenditures have become endemic in American politics, and campaigns in the City of Alhambra are no exception. Incidental to the high cost of election campaigning is the problem of improper influence, real, potential, or perceived, campaign contributions may have in local elections and policy making.

B. Equal and fair representation is paramount to democracy. A by-district electoral system helps to ensure compliance with the California Voting Rights Act and that all city residents are fairly and equally represented by councilpersons of their districts. Such a system is intended to preserve democratic institutions, foster responsible government, decrease the cost of running an effective City Council campaign and subsequently money’s influence in politics, and encourage greater electorate participation in the political and governmental process.

C. It is the purpose and intent of this legislation to:

1. Place realistic and enforceable limits on the amounts persons and other entities may contribute to political campaigns in Alhambra municipal elections;

2. Ensure and promote integrity, honesty, fairness, and transparency in municipal election campaigns;

3. Provide opportunity for all citizens to become candidates for city office unhindered by a need to meet increasingly high campaign costs;

4. Prevent impropriety, the appearance of impropriety, or the potential for corruption;

5. Place a premium on messaging, qualifications, and good governance rather than fundraising and power politics;

6. Alleviate the time, financial burden, and need for excessive fundraising while running for City Council by limiting both the geographic area in which candidates need to campaign and the number of voters which candidates need to reach, thereby emphasizing issues of importance to their constituents;

7. Better ensure that the demographic makeup of the city will be more equally and fairly represented by their elected leaders;

8. Incentivize councilpersons elected from their districts to better represent the residents of their districts;

9. Eliminate district vote dilution;

10. Diminish the possibility that a minority group would face dilution of their votes;

11. Encourage more candidates to run for City Council by removing monetary barriers, thus fostering more competitive elections;

12. Provide full and fair enforcement of all the provisions of this article.

A. For the purpose of this article, certain words and phrases are defined, and the definitions set forth as follows shall apply to the provisions of this article unless it is apparent from the context that a different meaning is necessarily intended.

1. “By-district” shall mean election of members of the Alhambra City Council by voters of the district alone.

2. “Candidate” means any person who is a candidate for an elected city office or who is an elected city official and who is the subject of recall election, or who receives contributions or makes an expenditure or gives his or her consent for any other person to receive a contribution or make an expenditure with a view to bringing about his or her nomination or election to city office, whether or not the specific elective office for which he or she will seek nomination or election is known at the time the contribution is received or the expenditure is made and whether or not he or she has announced his or her candidacy or filed a declaration of candidacy at such time. An individual who becomes a city candidate shall retain his or her status as a city candidate until such time as that status is terminated pursuant to Cal. Gov’t Code § 84214. “Candidate” does not include: (1) any person within the meaning of 52 U.S.C.A. § 30101(2); and (2) any candidate for the Alhambra Board of Education.

3. “City” means the City of Alhambra, a California municipal corporation.

4. “City Clerk” shall mean the duly appointed City Clerk, along with any person serving as acting or interim City Clerk, and any member of the City Clerk’s office staff or designee.

5. “City Council” shall mean the elected governing body of the City of Alhambra as defined in Article VI, Section 37 of the Alhambra City Charter.

6. “Committee” means any person or combination of persons formed for the purpose of promoting or opposing the election or reelection of a person to city elected office who directly or indirectly, (i) receives contributions, or (ii) makes independent expenditures or (iii) makes contributions at the behest of any city candidate within the meaning of Cal. Gov’t Code § 82013. A campaign committee includes any “Controlled Committee” within the meaning of Cal. Gov’t Code § 82016, any “General Purpose Committee” within the meaning of Cal. Gov’t Code § 82027.5, any “Primarily Formed Committee” within the meaning of Cal. Gov’t Code § 82047.5, any “Sponsored Committee” within the meaning of Cal. Gov’t Code § 82048.7, or political action committee.

7. “Contractor” shall mean any person or entity that has an existing contract, agreement, or other arrangement to provide the city with goods, services, or other items, or who has an interest in or expectation of obtaining such a contractual arrangement in the future. The term shall include any agent or representative of the contractor and where the contractor is a business entity shall include all owners, shareholders, principals, partners, members, officers, directors, and managers.

8. “Contribution” shall have the same meaning as set forth under Cal. Gov’t Code § 82015.

9. “Councilperson” shall mean a member of the City Council.

10. “Developer” shall mean any person or entity who is currently seeking, or who has an interest in or expectation of seeking from the city a specific plan, zone change, development agreement, density bonus, subdivision tract map, conditional use permit, or an industrial or commercial use having a building area of 20,000 square feet or more. The term shall include any agent or representative of the developer and where the developer is a business entity shall include all owners, shareholders, principals, partners, members, officers, directors, and managers.

11. “District” shall mean a geographic area of representation created for the puipose of municipal elections pursuant to state law.

12. “Election” means any primary, general or special municipal election held in the city, including a recall election.

13. “Excessive Contribution” means any contribution accepted that would cause the total amount of contributions from a single donor to exceed the contribution limitations set forth in this article.

14. “Independent Expenditure” shall have the same meaning as set forth under Cal. Gov’t Code § 82031.

15. “Loan” means the temporary transfer of money or goods for the personal use of an individual with the exception that the money or goods will be returned.

16. “Officeholder” shall mean any person who holds elected office in the City of Alhambra.

17. “Person” shall have the same meaning as set forth under Cal. Gov’t Code § 82047.

18. “Political Action Committee” refers to any committee or organization as defined in Cal. Gov’t Code §§ 82048.7 or 84222.

19. “Political Reform Act” means the California Political Reform Act of 1974 (Cal. Gov’t Code §§ 81000 et seq.) and the related regulations of the California Fair Political Practices Commission as amended from time to time.

A. No person shall make to any candidate and/or the controlled committee of such a candidate and no such candidate and/or the candidate’s controlled committee shall accept from a person a contribution or contributions totaling more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) for each election in which the candidate is on the ballot or is a write-in candidate.

B. Any primarily formed committee that makes contributions or independent expenditures supporting or opposing a candidate or candidates in Alhambra shall not accept from any person a contribution or contributions totaling more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) for each election in which the candidate or candidates are on the ballot or are write-in candidates.

C. The City Council shall adjust the contribution limits established in this section in March of every odd numbered year to reflect any increase or decrease in the California Consumer Price Index since the last such adjustment of the contribution limit. Such adjustments shall be rounded to the nearest ten and no/100ths ($10.00) dollar amount.

D. Any contributions solicited or accepted pursuant to this section shall be expended only in connection with the candidacy for the office specified in the candidate’s declaration of intent to solicit and receive contributions or for any valid purpose as defined in the Political Reform Act of 1974, as amended, or the fair political practices commission regulations interpreting the act, unless otherwise noted in this article.

E. No candidate or officeholder, the controlled committee of such a person, or a primarily formed committee which will make any contribution and/or independent expenditures in a municipal election, shall accept any contribution except between eighteen (18) months prior to an election and December 31 immediately following an election, where the candidate or officeholder who is the beneficiary of the contribution or expenditure is on the ballot.

F. A committee may not change its status from the type of committee that is reported on its statement of organization to any other type of committee between the period that is eighteen (18) months prior to an election and December 31 immediately following an election.

G. Contributions from developers, contractors, and political action committees to a candidate or committee primarily formed to support or oppose a candidate are prohibited.

A. Except as provided in subsections C and D of this section, a loan shall be considered a contribution from the maker and the guarantor of the loan and shall be subject to the contribution limitations of this article.

B. Every loan to a candidate or the candidate’s controlled committee shall be by written agreement and such written agreement shall be filed with the candidate’s or committee’s campaign statement on which the loan is first reported.

C. The proceeds of a loan made to a candidate by a commercial lending institution in the regular course of business on the same terms available to members of the public and which is secured or guaranteed shall not be subject to the contribution limitations of this article.

D. During the election cycle, no candidate shall personally make loans to the candidate’s campaign or the candidate’s committee which total more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00).

E. Extensions of credit (other than loans pursuant to subsections C and D of this section) for a period of more than thirty (30) days are subject to the contribution limitations of this article.

F. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a candidate from making unlimited contributions to the candidate’s campaign.

A candidate shall have no more than one campaign committee and one checking account out of which all expenditures shall be made. This section shall not prohibit the establishment of savings accounts, but no qualified campaign expenditures shall be made out of these accounts. The provisions of this section shall not apply to a petty cash fund established pursuant to Title 2, Section 18524(d) of the California Code of Regulations as amended from time to time by the Fair Political Practices Commission.

No candidate and no committee controlled by a candidate or officeholder shall make any contribution from the checking account established pursuant to the previous section of this article to any other candidate running for office or to any committee supporting or opposing a candidate for office in excess of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) in the aggregate per calendar year. This section shall not prohibit a candidate from making a contribution from the candidate’s own personal funds to the candidate’s campaign or to the campaign of any other candidate for elective office.

For purposes of the contribution limitations in this article the following shall apply:

A. All payments made by a person, as defined in the Political Reform Act of 1974, as amended, whose contribution or expenditure activity is financed, maintained or controlled by any corporation, labor organization, association, political party or any other person or committee, including any parent, subsidiary, branch, division, department or local unit of the corporation, labor organization, association, political party or any other person, or by any group of such persons shall be considered to be made by a single person or committee.

B. Two (2) or more entities shall be treated as one person when any of the following circumstances apply: 1. The entities share the majority of members of their boards of directors; 2. The entities share two (2) or more officers; 3. The entities are owned or controlled by the same majority shareholder or shareholders; 4. The entities are in a parent-subsidiary relationship.

C. An individual and any general partnership in which the individual is a partner, or an individual and any corporation in which the individual owns a controlling interest, shall be treated as one person.

Under this article no contribution shall be made, directly or indirectly, by any person or combination of persons acting jointly in a name other than the name by which they are identified for legal purposes nor in the name of another person or received from another person on the condition that it be used as a contribution. If it is discovered by a candidate or committee treasurer that a contribution has been received in violation of this article, the candidate or treasurer shall promptly pay the amount received in violation of this article to the City Treasurer for deposit in the general fund of the city.

If a candidate cancels his declaration of intent to solicit and receive contributions for a particular office, ceases to be a candidate or fails to qualify for an office for which contributions have been solicited or accepted, or if there remains a balance in a campaign checking account of a candidate or committee after the date of the election in which the candidate appeared on the ballot, all unexpended funds remaining in the account shall be returned on a pro rata basis to those who have made the contributions or be donated to one or more charitable organizations qualifying for federal income tax exemption within 90 days from the date a candidate withdraws from the race or the date of the election in which the candidate appeared on the ballot, whichever comes first. However, a maximum of $6,000.00 in unexpended funds may be retained by a candidate or committee and may be used for any political purpose or other lawful use. The provisions of this section shall apply retroactively to any unexpended funds in an account as of one (1) year from the date of adoption of this amendment.

A. Within 72 hours of each applicable filing deadline in the Political Reform Act of 1974 (as amended), the city shall post on its internet website a copy of any statement, report, or other document required by Cal. Gov’t Code, Title 9, Chapters 4 and 5 that is filed with the City Clerk’s office (including but limited to all committee statements of organization, campaign statements, 24-hour contribution and independent expenditure reports, late payment reports, and statements of economic interest). If the final day of the 72-hour period falls on a holiday or any other day on which City Hall is closed for business, the period is extended to the next day that is not a holiday or other day on which City Hall is closed for business. Before posting, the City Clerk shall redact the street name and building number of the persons or entity representatives listed on any statement, report, or document, or any bank account number required to be disclosed by the filer. Providing a link on the agency’s internet website to the statement, report, or other document satisfies this section.

B. A statement, report, or other document posted pursuant to this section shall be made available for four years from the date of the election associated with the filing, or one (1) year after the incumbent leaves office, whichever is longer.

The city candidate, or his or her campaign committee, or a primarily formed committee pursuant to section 101C(B), in receipt of any excessive or prohibited contribution shall, within 72 hours of receipt thereof, return any such excessive or prohibited contribution to the donor. In the event an excessive or prohibited contribution is received and reported in the campaign statement, the recipient shall, within 72 hours of notification by the City Clerk or within 72 hours of notice of complaint from the Fair Political Practices Commission, return such excessive contribution to the donor.

A. In addition to other duties required by law, the City Clerk shall:

1. Furnish a copy of this article to all qualified city candidates during the nomination period for city office.

2. Determine whether required statements and declarations have been filed timely and, if so, whether they conform on their face with the requirements of this article.

3. Promptly notify city candidates, or his or her campaign committee, or a primarily formed committee pursuant to section 101C(B), of any errors or excessive contributions in their statements or failure to file.

B. Nothing contained in sections 101N and 101P below shall be interpreted to create separate criminal or civil liability on the part of the City Clerk for unintentional failure to carry out the duties described herein.

Any person who violates any provision of this article or causes or aids or abets any other person to violate any provision of this article, and who, upon receipt of written notice of a violation of this article from the prosecuting authority or any person residing within the jurisdiction, fails to cure said violation within 14 days, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Prosecution for violation of any provision of this article shall be commenced within four (4) years after the date on which the violation occurred. Alhambra Municipal Code Title I, Section 1.12.010 does not apply to this provision.

A. Any person who intentionally or negligently violates the contribution provisions of this article and fails to cure any such violation within 14 days of receipt of a written notice of violation, shall be liable in a civil action brought by the City Attorney or by any person residing within the jurisdiction who has issued such notice of violation. Said written notice shall also be sent concurrently to the City Attorney, which shall be preserved in the public record for the term of the statute of limitations of this article.

B. Before filing a civil action pursuant to this article, a person must first file with the City Attorney a written request for the City Attorney to commence the action. The request shall include a statement of the grounds for believing a cause of action exists. The City Attorney shall respond to the person in writing within 14 days of receipt of such request, indicating whether he or she intends to file a civil action and the reasons therefor. The City Attorney’s response shall be preserved in the public record for the term of the statute of limitations of this article. If the alleged violation is not cured or the City Attorney does not respond with 14 days or does not intend to file a civil action pursuant to this article then the person(s) requesting the action may proceed to file a civil action pursuant to this article. Civil liability under this section shall not exceed five (5) times the amount of the unlawful contribution.

C. If two or more persons are responsible for any violation, they shall be jointly and severally liable.

D. No civil action alleging a violation of any provision of this article shall be filed more than two (2) years after the date the violation occurred.

E. The prevailing party in any civil action to enforce the provisions of this article shall have the right to collect from the other party all reasonable attorneys’ fees and other costs incurred.

F. No civil action alleging a violation of this title may be filed against a person pursuant to this section if the criminal prosecutor is maintaining a criminal action against that person pursuant to section 101N.

A. The City Attorney or any person residing in the jurisdiction, in addition to an award of damages outlined in section 101P, may also seek injunctive relief to enjoin violations or to compel compliance with the provisions of this article.

B. If a candidate is found liable for a violation of any section of this article and a court of law determines that the violation was substantial and that it might have had a bearing on the outcome of an election, that court of law may order equitable relief as follows:

1. If adjudication by a court of law becomes final before the date of the election, the votes for such candidate shall not be counted, and the election shall be determined on the basis of the votes cast for the other candidates in the race.

2. If such adjudication becomes final after the date of the election and if such candidate was declared to have been elected, such candidate shall not assume office, and the City Council shall within thirty (30) days call a special election to fill that vacancy. The special election shall be held not less than 114 days from the call of the special election, but within 365 days from the call of the special election, and at least 365 days before the next regularly scheduled municipal election.

Editor’s note: Sections 101A through 101Q and 102 were adopted by Resolution No. R2M20-47, which was approved by the voters of the city at a general municipal election held November 3, 2020.

Elections to be held in said city for the purpose of electing the officers thereof and for all other purposes are of three kinds:

• 1. General municipal elections.
• 2. Special elections.
• 3. Primary nominating elections when required as provided herein.

General municipal elections shall be held in said city on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year, commencing on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November, 1974, at which shall be elected the elective officers provided for by this Charter and all such officers shall take office on the first day of December next succeeding the day of their respective election at 12 o’clock noon.

Editor’s note: This section was amended by Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 50 which was approved by the voters at an election held June 7, 1960, by Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 92, which was approved by the voters of the city at a special municipal election held November 7, 1972, and by Ordinance 4788, which was approved by the voters of the city at a special municipal election held November 2, 2021.

Special elections shall be held for such municipal purposes and at such times as the council may deter-mine, or at such times as are elsewhere provided in this Charter, except that no special election shall be held less than fifteen days after the passage of an ordinance calling the same. All special elections shall be held and conducted, except as to the date thereof, and the result thereof be made known and declared in the same manner as herein provided for other elections.

The provisions of the general law of the state, where same are not in conflict with the provisions of this Charter, in force at the time of any city election, shall govern such city election in matters for which no provision is made in this Charter and the council and the city clerk respectively, shall exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred on or imposed by such laws on any board or officer concerning such elections; provided, that where this Charter makes provisions relating to any matter contained in such general laws, said Charter provision shall govern. (Stats. 1938, p. 151; 1952, 2d Ex., A.C. Res. C. 16.)

Editor's note: This section was amended by the voters of the city on March 26, 1996.

All candidates for elective city offices shall be nominated in the manner provided by general election laws applicable to special, local and municipal elections in the State of California, and succeeding and other sections or laws relating to independent nominations, in force at the time of any general municipal election, except as hereinafter otherwise prescribed; provided, however, that nominating certificates for a councilperson of a district shall be signed by at least fifty qualified electors of the district from and by which the nomination is made and provided further, that all nominating certificates shall be filed with the city clerk not more than sixty days nor less than fifty days before the day of the general municipal election.

When candidates for any office are nominated in accordance with the provisions of this section, it is hereby provided and directed that no party name or designation shall appear on the certificate or ballots and that the names of all candidates for each office shall be arranged alphabetically on said ballot.

Editor's note: This section was amended by the voters of the city on March 26, 1996. This section was further amended by Ordinance 4788, which was approved by the voters of the city at a special municipal election held November 2, 2021.

Each candidate for any elective city office at any general municipal or special election shall file in the office of the city clerk a written and signed declaration of his or her intention to become a candidate for such elective city office. The declaration of intention shall be filed, on a form to be supplied by the city clerk, not more than thirty nor less than twenty days prior to the first day on which such candidate’s nomination papers may be presented for filing. No person may be a candidate nor have his or her name printed upon any ballot as a candidate for elective city office unless he or she has filed such declaration of intention. The provisions of this section shall not, however, be deemed to prevent or prohibit the writing in on any ballot by any voter of the name of any candidate whose name is not printed thereon and for whom he or she may wish to vote, as provided in this Charter.

Editor’s note: This section was added by Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 72, which was approved by the voters of the city at a election held June 7, 1966. This section was further amended by the voters of the city on March 26, 1996 and further amended at a special municipal election held November 2, 2004. This section was further amended by Ordinance 4788, which was approved by the voters of the city at a special municipal election held November 2, 2021.

If a petition signed by qualified electors of the city equal in number to twenty per cent of the total number of qualified electors at the time of the last preceding general municipal election shall be filed with the city clerk pursuant to the deadlines estab-lished by general state law prior to the date of any general municipal election, requesting the council to call a primary nominating election, the council shall, after receiving the certificate of the clerk to the effect that the petition has been signed by the requisite number of qualified electors, call such primary election, and the candidates to be voted for at the general municipal election shall be nominated at such primary nominating election in the manner hereinafter prescribed and no names shall be printed upon the ballot for such general election other than the names of those selected in such manner.

Editor's note: This section was amended by the voters of the city on March 26, 1996.

Such primary elections shall be held on the day established by general state law preceding the general municipal election. The officers of election appointed for the general municipal election shall be the officers of the primary election and it shall be held at the same places so far as possible and the polls shall be opened and closed at same hours. The names of all candidates nominated in accordance with the pro-visions of section 107, and no others, shall be printed upon the ballots to be used at such primary election.

Editor's note: This section was amended by the voters of the city on March 26, 1996.

At least seven days prior to the day of said primary election the city clerk shall cause to be published for three consecutive days, in at least one daily newspaper published in the city, or posted if so directed by the council for three days in three public places in the city designated by the council, the name of all the persons so nominated, and the offices for which the several candidates were respectively nominated as they will appear upon the primary ballots.

The clerk shall cause the ballots to be printed, and, except when voting machines are used, numbered and bound, which ballots shall contain the list of names of candidates and respective offices to be voted for in each municipal precinct as so published or posted, with the following caption: Primary nominating election, City of Alhambra (inserting date thereof).

“To vote, stamp a cross opposite the name of the candidate voted for, except that when the name of the candidate is written in by a voter the cross shall not be made.”

The names of the offices to be filled shall be arranged on the ballots in the order the officers of the city to be elected are named in this Charter, and the names of the candidates for each office shall be arranged on the ballot of the primary nominating election in alphabetical order. There shall be nothing on any ballot indicative of the party affiliation, source of candidacy or support of any candidate.

Each ballot shall contain blank spaces underneath the printed names of candidates for each office, wherein the voter may write the names of any candidate whose name is not printed on the ballot and for whom he or she may wish to vote, and in such case a cross shall not be stamped opposite such written name.

Editor's note: This section was amended by the voters of the city on March 26, 1996.

Any candidate to fill a vacancy and to serve the remainder of an unexpired term shall be designated on the ballot as a candidate to fill a vacancy.

Two candidates receiving the highest number of votes for any given office at the primary nominating election shall be candidates, and the only candidates for such office whose names shall be printed upon the ballot to be used at the next general municipal election; provided, that where more than one office of the same kind is to be filled, the candidates therefor, equaling in number twice the number of such offices, who receive the highest number of votes at the primary nominating election, shall be the candidates and the only candidates for such offices whose names shall be printed upon the ballot to be used at such general election.

The ballot at such general election shall be in the same form as for such primary nominating election, so far as applicable, and without any indication as to the party affiliation, source of candidacy or support of any candidate.

The conduct and carrying on of all city elections shall be under the control of the council, and it shall, by ordinance, provide for the holding of all such elections, and may district and subdivide the city into municipal election precincts for the holding of municipal elections, and change and alter such precincts and redistrict the city for such elections as often as occasion may require, but no such precinct in the city shall include within its boundaries portions of two districts of the city. Unless the boundaries of the precincts shall be established, altered or changed as herein provided, they shall remain as fixed by the board of supervisors of the county for the registration of electors beginning in January of the last even numbered years preceding.

Editor's note: This section was amended by Ordinance 4788, which was approved by the voters of the city at a special municipal election held November 2, 2021.

The city council, or the majority of the members of the city council authorized by the city council, may file a written argument for or against any city measure. If the position of the members of the city council is not unanimous, the member, or members, of the city council whose position is opposed to that of the majority may file a written argument in opposition to that of the majority. Any individual voter or bona fide association of citizens, or any combination of voters or associations, may file a written argument for or against any city measure.

(a) No argument shall exceed three hundred words in length. The city clerk shall cause arguments for and arguments against the measure to be printed and shall include a copy of the arguments both for and against printed on the same sheet of paper or on separate sheets fastened together with each sample ballot; provided that only those arguments filed pursuant to this section shall be printed and included with the sample ballot.

(b) A ballot argument shall not be acceptable under this section unless accompanied by the name, or names, of the person, or persons, submitting it, or if submitted on behalf of an organization, the name of the organization and the name of at least one of its principal offices. No more than five signatures shall appear with any argument submitted under this section. In case any argument is filed by more than five persons, the signatures of the first five shall be printed.

(c) Based on the time reasonably necessary to prepare and print arguments and sample ballots for that particular election, the city clerk shall fix and determine a reasonable date prior to the election after which no arguments for or arguments against any city measure may be submitted to the city clerk for printing and distribution to the voters as provided in this section. Arguments may be submitted until and including the date fixed by the city clerk, and arguments may be withdrawn by their proponents at any time prior to and including the final date fixed for filing arguments.

(d) If more than one argument for or more than one argument against any such measure is submitted to the city clerk within the time prescribed, the city clerk shall select two arguments in favor of the measure, if two or more such arguments have been submitted, and two arguments against the measure, if two or more such arguments have been submitted, for printing and distribution to the voters. In selecting the arguments for or against the measure, the city clerk shall give preference and priority in the order named below to the arguments of the following:

1. The city council, or the majority of the members of the city council, on the one side and the minority member, or members, of the city council on the other side.

2. In the case of an initiative or referendum measure, the bona fide sponsors or proponents of the measure.

3. Bona fide associations of citizens.

4. Individual voters.

As used herein a "bona fide association of citizens" shall mean any association which has been organized and is existing in accordance with the Political Reform Act of the State of California, or which files a statement as to its legitimacy under penalty of perjury upon a form furnished by the city clerk for that purpose.

Editor's note: This section of the Charter was added by Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 102 which was ratified by the qualified electors of the city at an election held June 8, 1971. This section was amended by the voters of the city at a special election held March 5, 2002.

At each city election each of the election officers shall receive such compensation for his or her services as the council shall fix. (1932, 2d Ex., A.C. Res. C. 16.)

Editor's note: This section was amended by the voters of the city on March 26, 1996.

The election returns from each municipal election precinct shall be filed with the city clerk, who shall immediately place them in the safe or vault in his or her office, and no person shall be permitted to handle, inspect, examine or in any manner inter-fere with the same until canvassed by the council, unless such election is conducted by the county election official. After having been canvassed they shall be sealed up by the city clerk for six months and no person shall have access to them, except on order of a court of general jurisdiction.

Editor's note: This section was amended by the voters of the city on March 26, 1996.

The council shall meet and canvass the returns and declare the result in accordance with the Elections Code of the State of California, unless such election is conducted by the county election official.

Editor's note: This section was amended by the voters of the city on March 26, 1996; this section was further amended by the voters of the city on March 5, 2002.

Editor's note: This section concerning the certificate of result was repealed by the electorate on March 26, 1996.