San Francisco County Municipal Code Art. XIII Elections

Sec. 13.100. City and County Elections. Sec. 13.101. Terms of Elective Office. Sec. 13.101.5. Vacancies. Sec. 13.102. Instant Runoff Elections. Sec. 13.103. Special Municipal Elections. Sec. 13.103.5. Elections Commission. Sec. 13.104. Department of Elections. Sec. 13.104.5. Use of Other City Employees and Officers. Sec. 13.105. Nomination. Sec. 13.106. Qualification. Sec. 13.107. Election Material Mailed to Voters. Sec. 13.107.5. Posting of Ballot Counts at Polls. Sec. 13.108. Determination of Election Results.

Sec. 13.109. Filing Fees. Sec. 13.110. Election of Supervisors. Sec. 13.111. Election of Board of Education.

The Board of Supervisors shall adopt an Elections Code consistent with the provisions of this Charter. Where not otherwise provided by this Charter or by ordinance, all City and County elections shall be governed by the provisions of applicable state laws.

(a) For the purposes of this section: (1) a candidate shall be deemed "continuing" if the candidate has not been eliminated; (2) a ballot shall be deemed "continuing" if it is not exhausted; and (3) a ballot shall be deemed "exhausted," and not counted in further stages of the tabulation, if all of the choices have been eliminated or there are no more choices indicated on the ballot. If a ranked-choice ballot gives equal rank to two or more candidates, the ballot shall be declared exhausted when such multiple rankings are reached. If a voter casts a ranked-choice ballot but skips a rank, the voter's vote shall be transferred to that voter's next ranked choice. (b) The Mayor, Sheriff, District Attorney, City Attorney, Treasurer, Assessor-Recorder, Public Defender, and members of the Board of Supervisors shall be elected using a ranked-choice, or "instant runoff," ballot. The ballot shall allow voters to rank a number of choices in order of preference equal to the total number of candidates for each office; provided, however, if the voting system, vote tabulation system or similar or related equipment used by the City and County cannot feasibly accommodate choices equal to the total number of candidates running for each office, then the Director of Elections may limit the number of choices a voter may rank to no fewer than three. The ballot shall in no way interfere with a voter's ability to cast a vote for a write-in candidate. (c) If a candidate receives a majority of the first choices, that candidate shall be declared elected. If no candidate receives a majority, the candidate who received the fewest first choices shall be eliminated and each vote cast for that candidate shall be transferred to the next ranked candidate on that voter's ballot. If, after this transfer of votes, any candidate has a majority of the votes from the continuing ballots, that candidate shall be declared elected. (d) If no candidate receives a majority of votes from the continuing ballots after a candidate has been eliminated and his or her votes have been transferred to the next-ranked candidate, the continuing candidate with the fewest votes from the continuing ballots shall be eliminated. All votes cast for that candidate shall be transferred to the next-ranked continuing candidate on each voter's ballot. This process of eliminating candidates and transferring their votes to the next-ranked continuing candidates shall be repeated until a candidate receives a majority of the votes from the continuing ballots. (e) If the total number of votes of the two or more candidates credited with the lowest number of votes is less than the number of votes credited to the candidate with the next highest number of votes, those candidates with the lowest number of votes shall be eliminated simultaneously and their votes transferred to the next-ranked continuing candidate on each ballot in a single counting operation. (f) A tie between two or more candidates shall be resolved in accordance with State law. (g) The Department of Elections shall conduct a voter education campaign to familiarize voters with the ranked-choice or, "instant runoff," method of voting. (h) Any voting system, vote tabulation system, or similar or related equipment acquired by the City and County shall have the capability to accommodate this system of ranked-choice, or "instant runoff," balloting. (i) Ranked choice, or "instant runoff," balloting shall be used for the general municipal election in November 2002 and all subsequent elections. If the Director of Elections certifies to the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor no later than July 1, 2002 that the Department will not be ready to implement ranked-choice balloting in November 2002, then the City shall begin using ranked-choice, or "instant runoff," balloting at the November 2003 general municipal election. If ranked-choice, or "instant runoff," balloting is not used in November of 2002, and no candidate for any elective office of the City and County, except the Board of Education and the Governing Board of the Community College District, receives a majority of the votes cast at an election for such office, the two candidates receiving the most votes shall qualify to have their names placed on the ballot for a runoff election held on the second Tuesday in December of 2002. (Added March 2002) (Former Section 13.102 added November 1996; repealed March 2002)

The City and County shall follow the nomination provisions for municipal elective offices in accordance with state laws, except as provided for by ordinance or this Charter.

Each candidate for an elective office of the City and County shall be a resident of the City and County and an elector at the time that nomination papers are issued to the candidate, and each elected officer shall continue to be an elector during the term of the office.

The canvass of votes cast, and certification of elections shall be as prescribed by law. If a person elected fails to qualify or for any reason does not take office, the office shall be filled in the manner prescribed by state law for the filling of a vacancy in such office.

The amount of fees to be charged for candidate filings, candidate statements, paid arguments and any other fees to be collected in the conduct of elections shall be proposed by the Director of Elections for approval by the Board of Supervisors on or before the second Monday in December immediately prior to the election in which the fees apply. Signatures of registered voters in the City and County may be submitted in lieu of any filing fee. At the same time the Board of

Supervisors approves the schedule of fees for the election, the Director of Elections, with the approval of the Board of Supervisors, shall establish the dollar value equivalent of each valid signature submitted.

(a) The members of the board of supervisors shall be elected by district as set forth in this section. (b) The City and County shall be divided into 11 supervisorial districts as set forth in this section. Beginning with the general municipal election in 2000, and until new districts are established pursuant to this section, these districts shall be used for the election or recall of the members of the board of supervisors, and for filling any vacancy in the office of member of the board of supervisors by appointment. Once new districts are established, those districts shall be used for the same purposes. No change in the boundary or location of any district shall operate to abolish or terminate the term of office of any member of the board of supervisors prior to the expiration of the term of office for which such member was elected or appointed. (c) [See editor's note following the concluding paragraph (f) of this section.] (d) Within 60 days following publication of the decennial federal census in the year 2000 and every decennial federal census after that, the Director of Elections shall report to the Board of Supervisors on whether the existing districts continue to meet the requirements of federal and state law and the criteria for drawing districts lines set in the Charter. The criteria for drawing districts lines are: Districts must conform to all legal requirements, including the requirement that they be equal in population. Population variations between districts should be limited to 1 percent from the statistical mean unless additional variations, limited to 5 percent of the statistical mean, are necessary to prevent dividing or diluting the voting power of minorities and/or to keep recognized neighborhoods intact; provided, however, that the redistricting provided for herein shall conform to the rule of one person, one vote, and shall reflect communities of interest within the City and County. Census data, at the census block level, as released by the United States Census Bureau, statistically adjusted by the Bureau to correct the unadjusted census counts for any measured undercount or overcount of any subset of the population according to the bureau's Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation or other sampling method, shall be used in any analysis of population requirements and application of the rule of one person one vote. In the event such adjusted census data, at the census block level, are not released by the Bureau, population data, at the census block level, adjusted by the California Department of Finance for any measured undercount or overcount maybe used. If it is determined that the districts are in compliance with all legal requirements, including the requirement that they be equal in population, the current districts as drawn will be valid for the next decade. If it is determined that any of the districts are not in compliance, the Board of Supervisors by ordinance shall convene and fund a nine-member elections task force. Three members shall be appointed by the Board of Supervisors, three members shall be appointed by the Mayor, and three members shall be appointed by the Director of Elections unless an Elections Commission is created in which case the appointments designated to the Director of Elections shall be made by the Elections Commission. Task Force shall be appointed by January 8, 2002 and following the publication of each decennial federal census thereafter, shall be appointed within sixty days after issuance of a report by the Director of Elections to the Board of Supervisors that the districts are not in compliance, pursuant to this subsection. Members of the Task Force previously appointed by the Director of Elections shall serve on the Task Force until the Elections Commission, if established, appoints three members to the Task Force, whereupon the terms of the members appointed by the Director of Elections shall expire. The Director of Elections shall serve ex officio as a non-voting member. The task force shall be responsible for redrawing the district lines in accordance with the law and the criteria established in this Section, and shall make such adjustments as appropriate based on public input at public hearings. The Task Force shall complete redrawing district lines before the fifteenth day of April of the year in which the first election using the redrawn lines will be conducted. The Board of Supervisors may not revise the district boundaries established by the Task Force. If the Task Force determines that the adjusted population data to which this subsection refers are not available a sufficient period of time before the fifteenth day of April in order to use the adjusted population data in redrawing the district lines for the following supervisorial election, and the adjusted population data demonstrate more than a five percent variance from the figures used in redrawing the district lines for the [sic] that supervisorial election, the Task Force shall by the fifteenth day of April immediately preceding the next supervisorial election redraw the district lines for that supervisorial election in accordance with the provisions of this section. The procedures for redrawing supervisorial lines following the publication of every subsequent decennial federal census shall follow the procedures established by this Section. The City Attorney shall remove the description of district lines found in this subsection from the Charter after the Elections Task Force has completed redrawing the district lines as set forth above. Following each redrawing of the district lines thereafter, the City Attorney shall cause the redrawn district lines to be published in an appendix to this Charter. (e) Each member of the board of supervisors, commencing with the general municipal election in November, 2000, shall be elected by the electors within a supervisorial district, and must have resided in the d

nes as set forth above. Following each redrawing of the district lines thereafter, the City Attorney shall cause the redrawn district lines to be published in an appendix to this Charter. (e) Each member of the board of supervisors, commencing with the general municipal election in November, 2000, shall be elected by the electors within a supervisorial district, and must have resided in the district in which he or she is elected for a period of not less than 30 days immediately preceding the date he or she files a declaration of candidacy for the office of supervisor, and must continue to reside

therein during his or her incumbency, and upon ceasing to be such resident shall be removed from office. (f) Notwithstanding any provisions of this section or any other section of the charter to the contrary, the respective terms of office of the members of the board of supervisors who shall hold office on the eighth day of January, 2001, shall expire at 12 o'clock noon on said date and the 11 persons elected as members of the board of supervisors at the general election in 2000 shall succeed to said offices on said eighth day of January, 2001. At that time, the clerk of the board of supervisors shall determine by lot whether the supervisors elected from the even- or odd-numbered supervisorial districts at the general municipal election in 2000 shall have terms of office expiring at noon on the eighth day of January, 2003, and which shall have terms of office expiring at noon on the eighth day of January, 2005; commencing, however, with the general municipal election in November, 2002, the terms of office of the supervisors elected from the even- or odd-numbered supervisorial districts, as the case may be, shall be for a term of four years and shall continue as such thereafter. Those members of the board of supervisors elected at the general election in 1998, and those elected at the general election in 2000 who only serve an initial two-year term, shall not be deemed to have served a full term for purposes of the term limit established in Section 2.101. (Added November 1996; amended November 1999; November 2001) Editor's Note: Charter Section 13.100(c) originally contained boundaries and descriptions of the eleven supervisorial districts of the City and County of San Francisco. Charter Section 13.100(d) requires that once new district lines are drawn, those descriptions are to be removed and the new lines published in an appendix to this Charter. For the current district boundaries and descriptions, please see Appendix E of this Charter.

(a) Manner of Election. (1) Beginning on January 1, 2017, and ending on the sunset date set forth in subsection (a)(2), elections for the Board of Education of the Unified School District shall be conducted in a manner that permits any San Francisco resident to vote who either: (A) is a voter, as defined in Article XVII of this Charter, or (B) is the parent, legal guardian, or caregiver (as defined in California Family Code Section 6550 or any successor legislation) of a child under age 19 residing in the San Francisco Unified School District, is the minimum age required under this Charter to vote in a municipal election, and is not disqualified from voting under Article II Section 4 of the California Constitution or any implementing State statute, regardless of whether the person is a United States citizen. The Board of Supervisors may adopt ordinances implementing this subsection (a)(1). (2) Subsection (a)(1)(B) authorizing non-citizens to vote in Board of Education elections shall expire by operation of law on December 31, 2022, or on December 31 immediately following the third election for members of the Board of Education conducted in accordance with this Section 13.111, whichever is later. Thereafter, the Board of Supervisors may determine by ordinance whether non- citizens may vote in elections for members of the Board of Education.* (b) Limitations. This Section 13.111 shall apply only to elections for members of the Board of Education of the San Francisco Unified School District. Nothing in this Section 13.111 shall affect the terms of office of members of the Board of Education, including incumbent members on the effective date of the Charter amendment enacting this Section. Nothing in this Section shall alter the definition of “elector” or “voter” set forth in Article XVII of this Charter. (Added by Proposition N, Approved 11/8/2016) *Editor’s Note: Ordinance 206-21 (effective 12/13/2021, operative 1/1/2023), which added Sections 1000 and 1000.1 to the Municipal Elections Code and revised Section 1001, extends this provision beyond December 31, 2022.