EAdIElection Administration Index
How professionally and independently is election administration codified?
Dimensions
Accountability
50.0% · 1/2| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| COI.1Conflict-of-interest disclosureAre commissioners and senior election staff required by statute to disclose financial interests (vendor relationships, party positions, candidate connections) publicly? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-17 |
| COI.2Judicial review of administrative decisionsIs the right to seek judicial review of election-authority decisions codified, with standing, timeline, and venue defined? | 1/1100.0% | Cal. Elec. Code § 16462 codifies judicial review of election outcomes: affidavit must be filed with the superior-court clerk within 5 days after the official canvass; § 16442, § 16521 codify service and citation procedures. Standing, timeline, and venue (county superior court) all statutory. | § view source 2026-05-17 |
Commission
20.0% · 1/5| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| COMM.1Statutory grounding of commissionIs the election commission's existence and core mandate set in the constitution (rather than statute alone, regulation, or executive order)? | 1/250.0% | Cal. Elec. Code § 15651 + § 15652 references the Secretary of State as the statutory authority for cross-county election determinations. The SoS office is established constitutionally in Cal. Const. Art. V § 11 (not ingested). The COMM.1 candidates surface only statutory roles; full constitutional grounding requires reading Art. V, which wasn't in the FTS-surfaced candidates. | § view source 2026-05-17 |
| COMM.2Multi-branch appointmentAre commission members appointed by multiple branches (legislature, judiciary, executive) such that no single branch unilaterally controls composition? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-17 |
| COMM.3Term protectionAre commissioner terms defined in statute with fixed length, staggered cycles, and statutory grounds for removal? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-17 |
| COMM.4Political-balance requirementIs the commission's composition required by statute to be politically balanced (party-balanced, supermajority-confirmation, or independent appointment by judiciary)? | 0/10.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: § 19260 covers a Pooled-Money-Investment-Board loan mechanism — unrelated to commission political balance. CA's elections commission structure (Fair Political Practices Commission for campaign-finance, statutory single SoS for elections) lives in Gov Code 81000+, not ingested. | § view source 2026-05-17 |
Funding
0.0% · 0/4Staff Training
0.0% · 0/3| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| STAFF.1Career professional staffIs the election authority's career staff (professional employees, not political appointees) protected by civil-service or analogous merit-based statute? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-17 |
| STAFF.2Mandatory trainingIs training for election officials and poll workers required by statute, with content and frequency defined? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-17 |
| STAFF.3Whistleblower protectionAre election-related whistleblower protections (for staff reporting irregularities) codified in statute? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-17 |
Vendor Oversight
100.0% · 3/3| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| CERT.1Certification process codifiedIs the voting-equipment certification process (criteria, evaluators, timeline, public-comment period) codified in statute or regulation? | 1/1100.0% | Cal. Elec. Code § 19212 codifies the full certification process: source-code escrow within 10 business days, state-approved testing agency (§ 19220), reexamination authority (§ 19231), and pre-use certification requirement (§ 19202). The most thoroughly codified voting-equipment certification regime among scored jurisdictions. | § view source 2026-05-17 |
| CERT.2Recertification triggersAre recertification triggers (after material updates, after defects discovered, on a fixed schedule) codified? | 1/1100.0% | Cal. Elec. Code § 19216 codifies the recertification trigger: once certified/conditionally approved, a voting system 'shall not be changed or modified until the Secretary of State has been notified in writing and has determined that the change or modification does not impair' system integrity. § 19291 mirrors this for remote accessible vote-by-mail systems. | § view source 2026-05-17 |
| CERT.3Decertification grounds & procedureAre the grounds for revoking certification, and the procedure for doing so, defined in statute? | 1/1100.0% | Cal. Elec. Code § 19201 codifies post-decertification conditional approval, presupposing a decertification process. § 19219 and § 19294 give SoS injunctive-relief authority over non-compliant vendors. Decertification grounds and remedies are codified. | § view source 2026-05-17 |