Sacramento Municipal Code Art. X Elections

The city council shall adopt an election code ordinance, providing an adequate and complete procedure to govern city elections, including the nomination of candidates for all elective offices. All elections provided for by this Charter for choice of officers, shall be conducted in the manner prescribed by said election code ordinance or as said code is hereafter amended.

Nominations of candidates for all elective offices shall be made in the manner prescribed by the election code ordinance.

(a) Commencing with the year 1992, the primary city election shall be held on the same date in each election year as the California statewide direct primary election, and the general city election shall be held on the same date as the California statewide general election for that year. All other elections shall be known as special elections.

To implement this provision, primary and general elections for council districts one, three, five and seven shall be held in the year 1994, and the primary and general elections for council districts two, four, six and eight, and for the office of mayor, shall be held in the year 1992.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this charter, the term of office of each person who is, on the effective date of this amendment, an incumbent of the council seat for district two, four, six or eight, or of the office of Mayor, and whose term of office would otherwise normally expire in 1991, shall be extended until a successor is elected in 1992 and has been seated.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this charter, the term of office of each person who is, on the effective date of this amendment, an incumbent of the council seat for district one, three, five or seven, and whose term of office would otherwise normally expire in 1993, shall be extended until a successor is elected in 1994 and has been seated. (Adopted October 10, 1989)

(b) At the primary election, there shall be chosen by the voters of each council district with a council member whose term expires at the end of or during the same year as the election, two candidates for the office of council member from that district. When the term of office of mayor expires at the end of or during the same year as the election, there shall be chosen by the voters of the entire city at the primary election two candidates to fill the office of mayor. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Charter to the contrary, in the event that any candidate for nomination to the office of council member or the mayor shall receive a majority of the votes cast for all the candidates for nomination for such seat or office at such primary election, the candidate so receiving such majority of all votes shall be deemed to be, and declared by the city council to be, elected to such office.

(c) At the general election, the voters of each council district in which a primary election was held shall select from among the two candidates chosen at the primary election in each district one candidate to succeed to the office of the council member whose term expires at the end of or during the same year as the election.

All elected officials shall take office on the day of the last regularly scheduled city council meeting in December in the year of their election, and their terms of office shall commence on said date. (Adopted November 4, 1980; amended by Res. 2016-0036, 2/9/16)

A special election to fill a vacancy in office of the mayor or council member shall be called by the city council as soon as said vacancy occurs, but in no event later than 14 days following the date upon which said vacancy occurs.

The special election to fill said vacant office shall be held on the next regular election date following the date upon which said election is called at which time permits said election to be lawfully held, or at an earlier date as may be fixed by the city council. The candidate receiving the greatest vote in said election shall be elected to fill said vacant office.

As used in this section, the term "regular election date" means the primary municipal election date for council elections and any election date specified in Section 2500 of the Elections Code of the State of California as the same now reads or may be hereafter amended.

Unless otherwise provided for by ordinances hereafter enacted, all elections shall be held in accordance with the provisions of the Elections Code and Government Code of the State of California, as the same now exist or may be hereafter amended, for the holding of elections in cities, insofar as the same are not in conflict with this Charter.