How to run for local office in California

California Secretary of State, Elections Division The Secretary of State maintains the statewide voter registration database (VoteCal) and sells the statewide voter registration information file, receives every committee's Form 410 Statement of Organization and the $50 annual committee fee, runs the Where's My Ballot tracker, and publishes the county elections office directory. For a local office you do not file candidacy or campaign statements with the Secretary of State; those go to your city clerk or county elections official.

California's 58 county elections officials (registrars of voters or county clerks) register voters, mail and receive ballots, run vote centers or polling places, verify signatures and certify results. They are the filing officer for county offices and for school and special district seats, and they sell county-specific voter files and returned-ballot reports. City clerks run the nomination period and campaign filings for city offices, and consolidate the election with the county to actually conduct it. The Secretary of State's county elections offices page lists all 58 with links.

The voter file is the list of every registered voter, with the fields a campaign needs to target: address, party where the state records it, and vote history. In California it comes from California Secretary of State (statewide file); county elections officials (county-specific files).

Access

Available for political and election purposes

Cost

$100 application fee for the statewide file from the Secretary of State, with voter history and political district data included on request at no extra charge (SOS file request page, checked 2026-09-09). County files vary by county: Sacramento charges $80 per file ($105 custom); Orange County $37 for a standard voter file by area or district ($80 special request, 2016 fee schedule still posted).

Format

Three plain-text tab-delimited files in the Secretary of State's published layout: a voter file, a participation history file, and a political districts file. Counties deliver electronically as well; Orange County requires a wet-signature application and photo ID, in person or by mail.

Vote history

Included

Phone numbers

Included where on file

Updated

The Secretary of State processes applications in 7 to 14 business days and each file is a snapshot of VoteCal at that time; Sacramento County fills county orders within 72 business hours. Re-order after the 15-day registration deadline to pick up new registrants, who also receive ballots.

Who can get it: Any candidate for federal, state or local office; any committee for or against a ballot measure; any person for election, scholarly, journalistic or political purposes; and any person for governmental purposes as determined by the Secretary of State. You apply under penalty of perjury with your driver license or ID number and a statement of intended use (Elections Code 2188).

Permitted use: Election, scholarly, journalistic, political or governmental purposes only. Commercial use is a misdemeanor (Elections Code 2188 and 2194; Sacramento County's voter file page repeats the warning). Applications are kept for five years.

County option: Yes. A county-specific file comes directly from the county elections official, with voter history and district data on request, at that county's fee (Sacramento $80, Orange $37). A county may not provide data for any political subdivision that is not at least partly inside the county, so a multi-county district needs each county's file or the statewide file.

• Voter file fields: name, date of birth, registration date, residential and mailing address, precinct, contact information, and political party preference. Inactive voters are included only if you ask.
• History file: election type, date and voting method (polling place, conditional registration, vote by mail) for each election the voter cast a ballot in. Never how they voted.
• Not released: driver license and ID numbers, last four of the Social Security number, unique identifier, signature image, confidential voters (Elections Code 2166 et seq.), and 16- and 17-year-old pre-registrants.

You pull and file nomination papers with your local elections official during a fixed window: the 113th through the 88th day before the election (Elections Code 10220 for cities), extended to the 83rd day for non-incumbents if the incumbent does not file (Elections Code 10225). For November 2, 2027 that is July 12 through August 6, 2027, with the extension to August 11. City offices file with the city clerk; county offices and school and special district seats with the county elections official. Most local offices have no filing fee, but the optional candidate statement in the sample ballot is charged to the candidate at the county's estimated cost, and county offices can carry a fee with signatures in lieu.

File with

City clerk for mayor and city council (Elections Code 10220); county elections official (registrar of voters or county clerk) for county supervisor and other county offices and for school board, community college and special district seats.

Filing fee

Confirm with the filing officer

Petition

Confirm with the filing officer

Partisan?

All city, county, school and special district offices in California are nonpartisan. Candidates for these offices do not carry a party label on the ballot, and party preference is not listed for local races.

Filing window: Nomination documents may be filed from the 113th day through the 88th day before the election, during normal business hours (Elections Code 10220). If an incumbent does not file by the 88th day, non-incumbents get until the 83rd day (Elections Code 10225). For the November 2, 2027 election: July 12 to August 6, 2027, extended to August 11, 2027 where the incumbent sits out. Counties publish the exact E-113 and E-88 dates for every consolidated election on their candidate pages.

• Since SB 415 (Elections Code 14052), a city, school or special district may not hold an off-cycle election if turnout has been significantly lower than at statewide elections, so most local elections are now consolidated with the June and November statewide elections in even years. Check your jurisdiction's ordinance before assuming a 2027 race exists.
• A candidate statement in the county sample ballot is optional and billed to you; the fee varies by county and word count.

State-level campaign finance in California is overseen by California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC); local filing officers; Secretary of State (Cal-Access, Form 410).

Where local candidates file: City candidates file their Candidate Intention Statement (Form 501) and campaign statements (Forms 460, 470, 497) with the city clerk; county candidates file with the county elections office; candidates for a district that spans counties file with the county that has the most registered voters (FPPC Campaign Manual 2, chapter 10). The Statement of Organization (Form 410) is filed with the Secretary of State once you raise or spend $2,000 in a calendar year, with a $50 fee due within 15 days and again every January 15. The Political Reform Act does not require local candidates to e-file, but many cities and counties have ordinances requiring electronic filing through their own systems; ask your filing officer. The Form 700 candidate statement of economic interests is filed with the same local officer alongside your declaration of candidacy.

Contribution limits: State law sets no limit for school board, community college or special district candidates. For city and county candidates, AB 571 (Government Code 85702.5 and 85301(d)) applies the state legislative limit by default when the city or county has not adopted its own: $5,900 per person, small contributor committee or party per election for 2025-2026, with primary, general and special elections counted separately; the FPPC adjusts the figure in odd-numbered years, so check its page for the 2027-2028 amount. More than a hundred cities and counties, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Oakland, Sacramento and Long Beach, have their own ordinances, which the FPPC lists on its Local Campaign Ordinances page; those replace the AB 571 default entirely, so confirm with your city clerk or county before you accept a check.

Reporting: Semi-annual statements (Form 460) plus two pre-election statements before any election you are on the ballot for, and 24-hour reports (Form 497) for contributions of $1,000 or more in the 90 days before the election; the FPPC posts a filing schedule for each election date. A late statement costs up to $10 per day.

• Candidates who will raise and spend less than $2,000 in a calendar year file only the Form 501 and the short Form 470 (Campaign Manual 2, chapter 2).
• Check the FPPC's Local Campaign Ordinances page for your jurisdiction; if it is listed, its limits and possibly its e-filing rules govern instead of AB 571.

Every registered voter is mailed a ballot. Every active registered voter is mailed a ballot for every election (Elections Code 3000.5, in effect since 2022). Voters may instead vote in person at a vote center (Voter's Choice Act counties) or polling place. Mailed ballots must arrive by the close of polls or be postmarked on or before election day and received within 7 days (Elections Code 3020); drop-box and in-person returns must be in by 8 pm on election day.

Early voting

The 29-day mail window is the early-voting period. Voter's Choice Act counties open vote centers up to 10 days before election day and drop boxes from the start of the mailing; other counties open early voting at the county elections office once ballots are available.

Mail ballots

Mailing begins no later than 29 days before the election and must be finished within five days; anyone who registers after that is mailed a ballot within five days of registering, up to the 15-day deadline. The Secretary of State's Where's My Ballot service (BallotTrax) sends voters text or email updates when their ballot is mailed, received and counted.

Registration deadline

15 days before the election, online, by mail (postmarked) or at the DMV (Elections Code 2102): October 18, 2027 for the November 2, 2027 election. After that, conditional voter registration is available through election day at any county elections office, vote center or polling place, and the voter casts a provisional ballot (Elections Code 2170).

Same-day registration

Yes

Knowing who has already voted: Buy it from your county registrar, not the state. Under the voter file rules (Elections Code 2188 and 2194) counties sell returned-ballot status to candidates and political committees during the voting period. Sacramento County, for example, sells a Voting Activity Status Report as a 4-week subscription for $308 or an 8-week subscription for $616, and gives out the election-day report free (Sacramento voter file information page, checked 2026-09-09). Orange County sells a vote-by-mail file by county or district for $49 ($98 special request) under its 2016 fee schedule. Product names, refresh cadence (daily in the large counties) and prices differ by county, and a county can only report ballots it has received and signature-verified, so ask your registrar's campaign services desk for its returned-ballot or 'VBM status' product and how often it refreshes. After the election, the statewide history file records the voting method for everyone who voted. For individual voters, Where's My Ballot shows whether their own ballot was received.

58 counties, each with an elected board of supervisors and countywide officers (sheriff, district attorney, assessor and others depending on the county). Cities are either charter cities or general law cities; both elect councils, and larger charter cities elect mayors directly and often have their own campaign finance ordinances. Public schools are run by 345 unified, 515 elementary and 76 high school districts (California Department of Education, 2025-26) plus county offices of education, all with elected boards, and community college districts. Thousands of special districts (water, fire, parks, healthcare, transit) have elected or appointed boards. City and school elections are conducted by the county on consolidated ballots.

• City council
• Mayor (directly elected in many charter cities)
• County supervisor
• County sheriff, district attorney, assessor, treasurer-tax collector
• School board (unified, elementary, high school district)
• County board of education
• Community college district trustee
• Special district director (water, fire, parks, healthcare, transit)

When local elections happen: Established election dates are the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March (odd years, and even years divisible by four), the second Tuesday of April (even years), the June primary (even years not divisible by four) and the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of every year (Elections Code 1000). Cities and districts choose their date by ordinance approved by the county board of supervisors (Elections Code 1301), and since SB 415 most have consolidated with the even-year statewide June primary and November general. The only broadly used 2027 dates are March 2 and November 2, 2027, and only jurisdictions that still run off-cycle will have a candidate race on them.

• Elections Code 14052 allows an off-cycle date only if the jurisdiction adopted a consolidation plan by 2018 or its turnout has not been significantly lower than statewide elections.

Culper does not license voter data in California today. You upload the California voter file described above as a CSV, and every feature runs on it: search and lists, plain-English queries, texting and email, block walking, and volunteer coordination. Online donation processing is in development; ask about timing on the onboarding call. Your file stays in your campaign's workspace and is never shared with another campaign.

Facts on this page were checked against the official sources below on September 9, 2026. Rules change between cycles; when a number here and the agency disagree, the agency is right.

1. 1.California SOS: Voter Registration Information File Request (who may obtain, $100 statewide fee, fields, exclusions, 7-14 business days)
2. 2.Elections Code 2188 (application to obtain voter registration information; five-year retention; county limits)
3. 3.Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections: Voter File Information (fees $80/$105; Voting Activity Status Report $308/$616)
4. 4.Orange County Registrar of Voters: Request Voter Data (application, wet signature, commercial-use ban)
5. 5.Orange County Registrar of Voters: Fees for Services (voter file $37/$80; vote by mail file $49/$98)
6. 6.Elections Code 3000.5 (vote-by-mail ballot to every active registered voter; mailing begins no later than 29 days before)
7. 7.Elections Code 3020 (ballot return: close of polls, or postmarked by election day and received within 7 days)
8. 8.Elections Code 2102 (registration effective if received 15 days before the election)
9. 9.Elections Code 2170 (conditional voter registration through election day; provisional ballot)
10. 10.California SOS: Vote by Mail (every active voter mailed a ballot; drop boxes; postmark rule; Where's My Ballot)
11. 11.Elections Code 10220 (city nomination period: 113th to 88th day before the election)
12. 12.Elections Code 10225 (extension to the 83rd day when the incumbent does not file)
13. 13.Elections Code 1000 (established election dates)
14. 14.Elections Code 1301 (general municipal election dates and consolidation by ordinance)
15. 15.Elections Code 14052 (SB 415: off-cycle elections barred where turnout is significantly lower)
16. 16.Government Code 85301 (state candidate limits; subdivision (d) applies the legislative limit to county and city candidates)
17. 17.Government Code 85702.5 (counties and cities may set their own limits by ordinance)
18. 18.FPPC: Contribution Limits, City and County Candidates (AB 571; $5,900 for 2025-2026; who is not covered)
19. 19.FPPC: State Contribution Limits (2025-2026 amounts)
20. 20.FPPC: Local Campaign Ordinances (list of cities and counties with their own limits)
21. 21.FPPC Campaign Disclosure Manual 2, local candidates (where to file: city clerk or county elections office; Form 410; $2,000 threshold)
22. 22.FPPC: Candidate Toolkit
23. 23.California SOS: County Elections Offices (all 58 counties)
24. 24.California Department of Education: Fingertip Facts (number of school districts by type, 2025-26)