The California legislature should adopt a proposed amendment to the California Elections Code that ensures that the California Secretary of State has the legal authority to remove constitutionally ineligible candidates for president and vice president from California’s primary and general election ballot. Today, CREW’s Vice President for Policy Debra Perlin is testifying before the California Senate Elections Committee and Judiciary Committee to support this reform. 

Secretaries of state play a crucial role in our electoral system, often administering both state and federal elections by certifying election results, testing elections equipment and overseeing campaign finance reporting requirements. In addition, secretaries of state regulate ballot access to maintain the integrity of their electoral system by barring individuals who are not constitutionally eligible to run for or hold office. In every state and the District of Columbia, the secretary of state or relevant elections official has exercised this responsibility by removing ineligible candidates from the ballot, including presidential candidates who do not meet constitutional qualifications.

This authority has been in question since 2010 when the California Court of Appeals ruled in Keyes v. Bowen that the secretary of state “does not have a duty to investigate and determine whether a presidential candidate meets eligibility requirements of the United States Constitution.” The court’s decision is inconsistent with the secretary of state’s oath of office to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States” and is inconsistent with at least one other known instance where the California secretary of state did preclude a constitutionally ineligible candidate from appearing on the ballot.

The Keyes v. Bowen decision, if allowed to stand, could lead to the disenfranchisement of California voters. For instance, a major party candidate for president could be an 18 year old or an individual born overseas, leaving voters without a meaningful electoral choice because their party’s candidate could never constitutionally take office. Those voters may be put in a position where they have to choose between casting a futile vote for an ineligible candidate or abandoning their political leanings to vote for a different candidate.

It’s imperative that California enacts an amendment to its state electoral laws that overturns the Keyes v. Bowen decision and ensures that the secretary of state has the ability to police the ballot in accordance with the law and the Constitution just as their colleagues do in states like Colorado, Ohio, Wisconsin and Rhode Island. That way, when California voters cast their ballots, they can be confident that their votes will count.

Read the testimony here.
Read the letter here.

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