Last Updated September 2020
Executive Order N-76-20 – issued August 26, 2020
Governor Newsom signed an executive order to assist elections officials as they prepare for the upcoming election amid the COVID-19 pandemic and wildfires across the state.
The order extends the deadline for county elections officials to count and verify signatures submitted for initiative petitions seeking to qualify for the November 2022 ballot. A copy of the order can be found here.
AB 2400 – signed into law on August 27, 2020
Extends a risk-limiting audit pilot program, permitting an elections official to conduct a risk-limiting audit in place of the post-election 1% manual tally, until January 1, 2023. Authorizes a county to choose to perform the risk-limiting audit in only some of the contests within the county. Removes the requirement to perform a partial risk-limiting audit of each cross-jurisdictional contest. Takes effect immediately as an urgency statute.
SB 970
(changing the date of the statewide direct primary to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June in even-numbered years in which there is no presidential primary) has passed both houses of the Legislature and has been presented to the Governor for approval.
AB 2194 – in Assembly Committee
Requires that a vacancy in the office of United States Senator be filled in the same manner as a vacancy in a congressional representative or state legislative office (the Governor would be required, within 14 calendar days after the occurrence of the vacancy, to call an election to fill the vacancy).