§ 5.24

The Ballot Simplification Council (“Council”) shall consist of five voting members, two of whom shall be appointed by the Mayor, two of whom shall be appointed by the Board of Supervisors, and one of whom shall be appointed by the Superintendent of Schools of the San Francisco Unified School District. The City Attorney, or their designated representative, shall be an ex officio member and shall have a voice but no vote in Council proceedings. Each appointive member shall be a registered San Francisco voter, shall possess an understanding of ballot issues and shall possess writing skills and training which provide for a high capability in written communication to the general public. The Mayor and the Board of Supervisors shall solicit input from nonpartisan organizations that represent professional journalists or focus on free and fair elections to identify appointees. It is desirable that the member appointed by the Superintendent of Schools of the San Francisco Unified School District have professional experience related to reading education. The Council shall be an Advisory Body as defined in Section 5.1-1, except that the Council shall have decision making authority as described in this Article XXIV.

The term of each appointive member shall be two years. Notwithstanding the terms and term limits for Advisory Bodies established in Section 5.1-4, there is no limit on the number of terms that any individual member of the Council may serve.

(Added as Municipal Elections Code Sec. 600 by Ord. 429-97, App. 11/17/97; amended and redesignated by Ord. 9926, File No. 260217, App. 5/29/2026, Eff. 6/29/2026)

(a) The Council shall have the power and duty to:

(1) Prepare a digest of each measure that will be voted on only in the City and County of San Francisco;

(2) Assist the Director of Elections in preparing the additional materials set forth in Article V of this Code.1

(b) In the exercise of its powers and duties under this Article, the Council shall have access to any appropriate officer, department, board or commission of the City for consultation and assistance. When preparing a digest, the Council shall give consideration to the analyses prepared by departments pursuant to Section 350 of the Municipal Elections Code.

(c) Prior to submitting any digest measure to the Director of Elections, the Council shall provide a 24-hour period to receive and act on written requests for reconsideration of a digest. The Council shall consider only those requests provided in writing and including the specific language in the digest that the requestor wants to amend, the alternate language the requestor recommends, and the reasons for that recommendation. Changes suggested by the City Attorney intended solely for clarification or accuracy shall not be considered requests for reconsideration and shall not be subject to the requirements of this subsection.

(d) Digests of measures prepared by the Council shall, no fewer than 85 days prior to the election to which they relate, be transmitted by the Council to the Director of Elections for printing and inclusion in the voter information pamphlet.

(Added as Municipal Elections Code Sec. 610 by Ord. 429-97, App. 11/17/97; Ord. 291-06, File No. 061375, App. 11/29/2006; amended and redesignated by Ord. 99-26, File No. 260217, App. 5/29/2026, Eff. 6/29/2026) CODIFICATION NOTE

1. So in Ord. 99-26.

The Council shall give at least one week’s advance notice of any meeting, whenever possible, to the Mayor, the Board of Supervisors and the official proponents, of any initiative ordinance, Charter amendment, or declaration of policy, any other person who has notified the Director of Elections of their interest in the measure, and the public. (Added as Municipal Elections Code Sec. 620 by Ord. 429-97, App. 11/17/97; amended and redesignated by Ord. 9926, File No. 260217, App. 5/29/2026, Eff. 6/29/2026)