Municipal Elections Code

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS CODE The Municipal Elections Code was last amended by Ordinance 99-26, File No. 260217, approved May 29, 2026, effective June 29, 2026. See the Comprehensive Ordinance Table for information regarding amendments to other portions of the San Francisco Municipal Code.

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Comprehensive Ordinance List PREFACE TO THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS CODE On November 17, 1997, the Board of Supervisors adopted this Municipal Elections Code pursuant to Section 13.100 of the San Francisco Charter (Ord. 429-97). Prior to July 1, 1996, the effective date of San Francisco's 1996 Charter, the old Charter contained numerous provisions governing municipal elections. Some of those provisions were reenacted in the 1996 Charter, some were converted to ordinances, and some no longer exist in local law. Section 13.100 of the 1996 Charter directed the Board of Supervisors to adopt a Municipal Elections Code providing rules for nomination of elective officers, submission of measures to the voters, preparation and form of ballots, preparation and form of materials mailed to the voters, and imposition of fees. In addition to the elections issues described above, the Municipal Elections Code governs the activity of the Ballot Simplification Committee and the Citizens Advisory Committee on Elections. The Municipal Elections Code was developed by consolidating the City's ordinances governing municipal elections that were previously scattered throughout the Administrative Code, and by reenacting some provisions of the old Charter. The Code references the applicable articles and sections of the 1996 Charter and the California Elections Code, to maximize the Code's usefulness to the public. This electronic version of the City and County of San Francisco Municipal Code is updated as amending legislation is approved. New Ordinance Notices are inserted where applicable to call the user's attention to material that has been affected by legislation that has been passed but is not yet effective. Any references to such legislation are also compiled in a table at the end of this Code. The amendments are then incorporated into the Code when they become effective. Beginning with ordinances passed in 2011, all ordinances affecting this Code are summarized in a table that lists the identifying information (ordinance and file numbers), effective date, short title, and sections affected for each such ordinance. Users should note that the operative date of an ordinance may be later than the effective date of the ordinance. A delayed operative date will be noted in the ordinance. This Code may contain various Editor's Notes (explaining the disposition of or cross referencing various provisions), and/or Codification Notes (documenting scrivener's errors and the like found in the underlying ordinances). Such notes have been inserted by the publisher for the convenience of the user or as historical references. They have not been approved or adopted by the City and County of San Francisco, and are of no legal force or effect.