November 7, 2023, Consolidated Election, Campaign Guide: Candidate Statements

Introduction

Electronic Distribution of Statements for Local Nonpartisan Offices Not Offered at This Time
If the elections official who is conducting the election permits electronic distribution of a candidate’s statement, the governing body of a local agency may permit each candidate to prepare a candidate’s statement for the purpose of electronic distribution pursuant to this subdivision (Elections Code § 13307 (c)1). Sonoma County does not offer this service at this time.

Candidates running for special district offices have the option of submitting a paid 200-word Statement of Qualifications to be printed in the County Voter Information Guide. This statement gives the candidate an opportunity to describe their background, education, and qualifications for the office.

Payment and Filing

All Statements Now Automatically Printed in English and Spanish
Due to the fact that Sonoma County was designated a bilingual county by the federal government at the end of 2021, all candidate Statements of Qualifications published in the County Voter Information Guide are required to be in both English and Spanish. As a result, the less expensive "English only" option offered in prior years has been removed.

Payment for Statements of Qualifications (SOQs) is -- unless otherwise stated by the district board -- assumed to be the responsibility of the candidate. See the last column in the tables in the "Offices Up for Election" section of this Campaign Guide for the estimated costs by office. “District Pays” indicates there is no cost because the district has explicitly agreed to cover the cost. Estimated costs are based on the printer's price list, set-up fees, and the number of registered voters within the jurisdiction. The high end of the range is representative of when only one candidate files a statement; if more than one candidate file statements, the cost per candidate typically goes down.

Districts opting for candidate prepayment typically require a candidate to make out a check to the district in an amount “not to exceed” the highest possible cost (Elections Code § 13307(d)). Such checks are then held by the district until after the election when the Registrar of Voters bills the district and provides a detailed breakdown of the actual final costs of the SOQs. At that point districts will cash the checks and refund any overpayment.

Candidate statements must be submitted at the Registrar of Voters at the same time nomination papers are returned for filing. The candidate must provide proof from the district that they have submitted a check to the district office.

Statement Content

• Statements shall be limited to a recitation of the candidate's personal background and qualifications and shall not in any way reference other candidates for that office or to another candidate's qualifications, character, or activities.
• Statements shall be accompanied by a declaration executed under penalty of perjury, declaring that the information contained therein is true and correct.

Statement Formatting and Rules

• Warning 1: Please proofread your statement! The Registrar of Voters will not correct any misspellings or errors in grammar or punctuation.
• Warning 2: The Registrar of Voters will not be responsible for the accurate typesetting and/or printing of any statement that must be reconfigured or reformatted to comply with the below guidelines.
• Statements must be submitted on the form provided. However, statements may be prepared on a word processor and attached to the form, provided no pertinent information is covered by the attachment.
• If age and/or occupation are left blank, none will be printed. Occupation is not restricted by ballot designation limitations; however, occupations exceeding one line will be shortened.
• Statements shall be written in the first person (e.g., "I am running..." not "She is running..." or "Jane Doe is running...").
• The body of the statement (not including name, age, and occupation) shall not exceed 200 words.
• Words shall be counted pursuant to Elections Code § 9. Some basic word counting rules are as follows:

• • Punctuation is not counted.
  • Each word shall be counted as one word except as specified.
  • All proper nouns, including geographical names shall be counted as one word (e.g., "City and County of San Francisco" or "Rincon Valley Union School District" shall be counted as one word).
  • Each abbreviation for a word, phrase, or expression shall be counted as one word (e.g., S.R.J.C.).
  • Hyphenated words that appear in any generally available standard reference dictionary published in the United States shall be counted as one word. Each part of all other hyphenated words shall be counted as a separate word.
  • Dates shall be counted as one word.
  • Digital numbers shall be counted as one word (e.g., 100). Numbers which are written out are counted as one word each (e.g., "one" shall be counted as one word and "one hundred" shall be counted as two words).
  • Telephone numbers shall be counted as one word.
  • Internet website addresses shall be counted as one word.
• Statements must be typewritten in upper and lowercase letters and single-spaced in block paragraph style. Statements not in this format will be reformatted.
• Words in ALL CAPITALS, indentions, italics, underlines, **stars**, exclamations!!!, dots…, etc., are prohibited.
• Lists and enumerations will be wrapped as a single paragraph. Multiple single sentence paragraphs that do not fit in the space will be wrapped.
• Indented text, if submitted, will be run together as a sentence.
• An electronic version of the statement is strongly encouraged. Please send by email to chanel.ruiz-balatti@sonoma-county.org.

After Filing a Statement

• Statements shall remain confidential until the expiration of the filing deadline for nomination papers for the office. Statements may be withdrawn, but shall not be changed (except as specifically required by the elections official), until 5 p.m. the next regular business day following the close of nominations for such
• Statements are subject to examination and challenge by any voter of the jurisdiction (Statements ) for a period of 10 calendar days following the close of filing for each such office.
• Statements will be printed in random alphabet order unless repositioned due to space considerations. Statements do not rotate.

Sample Statement -- As Submitted

Shown below is a reduced facsimile of a Candidate's Statement of Qualifications form. Note that the first paragraph in the upper portion contains information as to the limitations on the number of words and the cost of printing and handling your statement. This portion of the form is to be completed by the officer issuing the form. The candidate should date and sign where indicated. The statement shown below has been typed in upper and lower case, block paragraph form. The candidate has corrected and initialed a typographical error (had the candidate not corrected this error it would have been typeset as submitted).

Sample Statement -- As Typeset