Canaan v. Abdelnour

Opinion

BIRD, C. J.

Does the City of San Diego’s prohibition on write-in voting in municipal elections violate the state or federal Constitutions?

I

The California Elections Code provides procedures for write-in voting in all federal, state and local elections. (Elec. Code, §§ 7300-7313, 17100-17102.)1 However, the California Constitution authorizes charter cities to adopt municipal election regulations irrespective of general laws on the same subject. (Cal. Const., art. XI, § 5, subd. (b)(3).) Pursuant to this constitutional authorization, the charter City of San Diego has enacted regulations…