Presidential primary elections.

(1) Existing law provides for specific procedures by which the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, the American Independent Party, the Peace and Freedom Party, and the Green Party participate in the presidential primary election. Existing law requires the Secretary of State to place the name of a candidate seeking the nomination of one of those parties for the office of President of the United States on the presidential primary ballot when the Secretary of State determines that the candidate is generally advocated for or recognized throughout the United States as actively seeking the nomination of the party, and to announce and distribute to the news media a list of the candidates the Secretary of State intends to place on the ballot a specified number of days before the presidential primary election. Existing law requires the Secretary of State to send a letter to specified officials in the Green Party of California and the Peace and Freedom Party of California soliciting additional information regarding the placement of candidates from those parties on the ballot on or before the 150th day before the election. This bill would define the phrases "generally advocated for or recognized candidate" or "recognized candidate" for these purposes to mean an individual who has an authorized campaign committee registered with the Federal Election Commission for the office of President of the United States and who meets specified criteria. The bill would require a candidate to complete and submit to the Secretary of State a form that substantiates the criteria met by the candidate. The bill would extend the deadline by which the Secretary of State is required to announce and distribute the names of candidates to be placed on the ballot to the 88th day before the date of the presidential primary election. The bill would extend the deadline for the Secretary of State to send the letter described above to the 120th day before the primary election. (2) Existing law requires an unselected candidate or uncommitted delegation seeking the nomination of a party that desires to be placed on the presidential primary ballot to have nomination papers circulated for signature on behalf of the candidacy. Existing law authorizes a circulator of those nomination papers to obtain signatures during a specified period before the presidential primary election, and requires the nomination papers to be prepared, circulated, signed, verified, and left for examination with the county elections official of the county in which the papers are circulated a specified number of days before the presidential primary election. This bill would change the period during which a circulator may obtain signatures to a nomination paper to the period between 120 days and 81 days, inclusive, before the primary election, and require all nomination papers to be left for examination by the county elections official at least 81 days before the primary election. The bill would make other conforming and technical, nonsubstantive changes. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.