Candidate Statement of Qualifications
(EC 9, 13111, 13112, 13303, 13306, 13307, 13309, 13311, 13313)
A statement by the candidate describing his or her education and qualifications is optional and can be printed in the County Voter Information Guide. The candidate statement and full deposit must be submitted at the same time and must be received by the Registrar of Voters’ office when the candidate’s nomination papers are returned for filing, no later than the end of the Nomination Filing Period.
The candidate’s statement is designed to acquaint voters with a candidate’s qualifications for the office he/she is seeking. The statement may include the name, age, and occupation of the candidate and a brief description of no more than 200 words of the candidate’s education and qualifications. You MUST submit your statement in Word format electronically by August 7th to the following email address: electionsmaterials@co.tulare.ca.us
FORMAT
All statements must be submitted on, or attached to the form provided by the Elections Official. Election Code requires Candidate Statements have UNIFORMITY IN APPEARANCE. In addition, there are page layout and spacing restrictions, which require candidate statements to adhere to the following rules. Any Candidate Statement, which does not conform to the rules below will be reformatted by the Elections Official:
- Statements must be typed in UPPER & LOWER CASE.Capitalization is only allowed at the beginning of a sentence or for proper nouns.
- No BOLD, UNDERLINES, or ITALICS may be used.
- Statements must be in a SINGLE PARAGRAPH.
- NO BULLETS, STARS, ASTERISKS or QUOTATION MARKS are allowed.
- TABLES or LISTS of items or phrases should NOT be vertical or indented, but must be strung together in paragraph format.
CONTENT
Statement shall not, in any way, make reference to other candidates for office or to another candidate’s qualifications, character or activities. Moreover, no statement shall contain any demonstrably false, slanderous or libelous statements, nor any obscene or profane language, statements or insinuations.
Statements shall be written in the first person (i.e. “I am running...” not “She is running...” or “Jane Doe is running...”) and shall be limited to a recitation of the candidate’s own personal background and qualifications.
The statement shall not include the party affiliation of the candidate, nor membership or activity in partisan political organizations.
Each statement shall be accompanied by a declaration executed under penalty of perjury declaring that the information contained therein is true and correct.
ORDER OF STATEMENTS IN COUNTY VOTER INFORMATION GUIDE
Statements for the same office will be printed in the County Voter Information Guide in randomized alphabet drawn order, rotation does not apply to the order.
TRANSLATIONS INTO OTHER LANGUAGES
The statements will automatically be printed in languages required by the federal Voting Rights Act. In Tulare County, the County Elections Official will arrange for all statements to be translated, printed and mailed in Spanish as well as English. Translations will be provided by the Election Official, not the candidate.
MAILING COUNTY VOTER INFORMATION GUIDES
The Registrar of Voters Office shall send to each registered voter a County Voter Information Guide with the candidate statement of each candidate. County Voter Information Guides will be mailed not less than 21 days before the election to each voter who is registered at least 29 days prior to the election. Please take note, voters in mailed ballot precincts are sent an official ballot as soon as they are available, starting at 29 days before the election. Additionally, the Registrar of Voters Office is not legally required to mail County Voter Information Guides or candidate statements to voters who register less than 54 days before the election.
CANDIDATE STATEMENT FILING INFORMATION
The Candidate Statement shall be filed with the County Elections Official of the county of residence at the time the nomination papers are filed. If the statement is for an election in which nomination papers are not required to be filed, then the statements must be filed no later than the 88th day before the election. You MUST submit your statement in Word format electronically by August 7th to the following email address: electionsmaterials@tularecounty.ca.gov
PUBLIC EXAMINATION PERIOD
Once filed the Candidate Statements shall remain confidential until the expiration of the filing deadline for nomination papers for such office for the election (typically at 5:00 p.m. on the 88th day prior to the election).
Candidate Statements shall be on public display and, as such, subject to examination and challenge by any voter of the jurisdiction for a period of 10 calendar days following the close of filing for each such office.
CHANGING OR WITHDRAWING A CANDIDATE STATEMENT
A Candidate Statement may be withdrawn, but shall not be changed, at any time up to 5:00 p.m. the next working day following the filing deadline for nomination papers for such office. Once withdrawn, a new statement may not be filed.
CANDIDATE STATEMENTS FEES
An estimation of the total prorated cost of printing (includes English and Spanish languages), handling and mailing the ¼ page Candidate Statements will include costs incurred as a result of complying with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Costs may vary depending upon the number of candidates who file a statement for the same office, number of ballot types in the district, number of pages in the various county voter information guides and number of registered voters who will be receiving the various county voter information guides. These variables may cause actual costs to vary significantly from estimated costs.
This estimated cost is due upon filing the statement. Cost of the statement will double if the Candidate Statement extends beyond the allotted ¼ page space. Make checks payable to: Tulare County Registrar of Voters.
If a candidate declares they are unable to pay in advance the estimated cost for submitting a Candidate Statement, the candidate shall submit an Affidavit of Financial Worth (form available from the Registrar of Voters Office) and a copy of their last federal income tax report (or a signed release form) to be used by the district in determining whether or not he/she is eligible to submit a Candidate Statement without payment of the fee in advance.
If the actual cost is less than the deposit you will receive a refund. If the actual cost is more than the deposit, you will receive an invoice for the difference and are required to pay the balance upon receipt of the invoice. In the case of shared county districts, it is the responsibility of the candidate to contact each county involved and establish their costs and formatting restrictions. The Tulare County Registrar of Voters does not accept Candidate Statements or statement fees on behalf of other counties.
HOW TO COUNT WORDS
Listed below are the guidelines for counting the number of words submitted on any document whose content is limited by statute, such as Candidate Statements. This section does not apply to counting words for ballot designations.
|
Category |
Example |
Word Count |
|
Acronyms and Abbreviations: Each abbreviation for a word, phrase, or expression will be counted as one word. |
CSUF, C.S.U.F., Nov., etc. |
One |
|
Dates: Dates will be counted as one word. |
01/01/2018 or January 1, 2018 |
One |
|
|
One |
|
|
Geographical Name |
Tulare County or City of Visalia |
One |
|
Hyphenated Words – Published in U.S. dictionary within the past 10 years |
Mother-in-law |
One |
|
Hyphenated Words – Not published in U.S. dictionary within the past 10 years, considered separate words. |
Taxpayer-advocate |
One for each word = Two (2) |
|
Internet Address |
One |
|
|
Numbers using digits: Any number consisting of a digit(s) will be considered as one word. |
1,10,100, etc. |
One |
|
Numbers spelled out: Any number that is spelled will be considered as a separate word. |
One Hundred Thousand |
One for each word = Three (3) |
|
Numerical Computations: Digit(s) used with $, ¢, %, #, etc. |
50%, ½, 2.3, etc. |
One |
|
Telephone Numbers |
559-839-2100 |
One |
|
Titles |
Friends for Measure A |
One for each word = Four (4) |
|
Punctuation: Punctuation is not counted. |
||
CANDIDATE STATEMENT EXAMPLE
