Governor Newsom signs presidential election bill into law
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Governor Newsom signed legislation authored by State Senator Dodd to create name submission deadlines and a process for spelling corrections for presidential elections in California.
Senate Bill 437 sets a deadline for the submission of presidential and vice presidential names to the Secretary of State's office no later than 75 days before the general election and clarifies that candidates can change their names if they appear incorrectly on ballots.
“Now more than ever, we must ensure our presidential elections are fair and transparent,” explained State Senator Dodd. “With Gov. Newsom’s signing of my bill, we protect the free election process that has become a bulwark of democracy. In a time of rising polarization and division, it will bring additional safeguards to this important tradition.”
The California Elections Code has established procedures for political parties to use when submitting the names of presidential and vice presidential candidates to the California Secretary of State's office which is tasked with creating ballots.
Notably, those procedures did not include a submission deadline and lacked a provision for candidates to correct mistakes to their names on those ballots detail a press release from State Senator Dodd's office.
“This bill would help ensure that political parties provide timely notice of nominee names and eliminate confusion about the candidate name change process,” said California Secretary of State Shirley Weber. “I appreciate Sen. Dodd championing good governance for California’s role in presidential elections.”
