The Nevada County Elections Office has prepared this information to assist citizens who may wish to submit Candidate Statements, arguments in favor of a ballot measure, or arguments against a ballot measure.

WORD LENGTH:

(Election Code (EC) sections follow each item.)

County Counsel's Impartial Analysis: 500 words. EC 9160, 9313, 9500.

County Auditor's Fiscal Impact Statement: 500 words. EC 9160.

Ballot Arguments: 300 words. EC 9162, 9315, 9501.

Rebuttals: 250 words. EC 9167, 9317, 9504.

Candidate Statement: 200 or 400 words, as determined by governing board. EC 13307.

1. Punctuation: Punctuation is not counted.
   
2. Count per word: Each word shall be counted as one word except as provided in this section. If the text exceeds the word limit, the author will be asked to delete or change a sufficient number of words or sentences until the statement is within the required word limit.
   
   State law mandates that all Candidate Statements of Qualifications are printed uniformly in the Sample Ballot Booklet. (This law does not apply to ballot arguments or rebuttals). Bolded, CAPITALIZED and underlined words are not acceptable. Indentations or multiple underscoring will not be allowed. Items in a list will not be allowed unless the list comprises a paragraph (ie: separated by commas within a paragraph).
   
3. Geographical names: All geographical names shall be considered as one word; for example, "Nevada County" shall be counted as one word.
   
4. Abbreviations: Each abbreviation for a word, phrase or expression shall be counted as one word.
   
   A group of initials shall be one word. For example, BSA, LLB, PhD, U.S.A.F., NAACP, NATO, mph, and AFL-CIO shall each be one word. In a person's name, consecutive initials shall be counted as one word. For example, "J.B. Jones" shall be two words, but "John B. Jones" shall be three words.
   
   An abbreviation shall be counted as a word. For example, "Mr." or "Sr." shall each be one word.
   
   A title such as "Lt. Col." shall be two words.
   
   A contraction shall be counted as one word, e.g., "I'm" or "we're."
   
5. Use of hyphens: Hyphenated words that appear in any generally available dictionary shall be considered as one word. Each part of all other hyphenated words shall be counted as a separate word.
   
   In the event of a conflict between dictionaries, the rule is this: If the different elements of a hyphenated word can stand alone, the hyphenated word shall be counted as being as many words as there are elements, otherwise it shall be one word. For example, "self-governing" and "president-elect" would be two words each, whereas "anti-federalist" and "co-opted" would be one word each.
   
6. Dates: Dates consisting of a combination of words and digits shall be counted as two words.
   
   A date such as "June 19, 1979" shall be counted as two words. A hyphenated time period such as "June 21--March 7, 1980" shall be four words.
   
   Dates consisting only of a combination of digits shall be counted as one word.
   
   A date such as "6/19/79" shall be counted as one word. A hyphenated time period such as "1980-1990" shall be two words.
   
7. Numbers and Symbols: Any number consisting of a digit or digits shall be considered as one word. Any number which is spelled, such as "one", shall be considered as a separate word or words. "One" shall be counted as one word whereas "one hundred" shall be counted as two words. "100" shall be counted as one word.
   
   Numbers in numerical form shall be one word, e.g., $16,000,000, 10-1/2, 378.2, or 75%. However, if they are written out, they shall be as many words as are involved notwithstanding hyphens. For example, "two hundred sixty-four" shall be four words.
   
   A number or letter used to identify a portion of a text shall be one word, e.g., "1" or "a".
   
   A symbol, except when used as part of a number, shall be counted as one word. For example, "&" and "c/o" shall each be one word.

CANDIDATE STATEMENT OF QUALIFICATIONS:

If a candidate wishes to have a Candidate Statement of Qualifications appear in Spanish as well as English, charges will be doubled. In addition, the candidate must pay for the translation (approximately $85.00) by a certified Spanish language translator retained by the company that prints Nevada County's ballots.

The Candidate Statement of Qualifications, published in the Sample Ballot Booklet, is optional and is left entirely to candidates to determine if they wish to have one. The statement may include a candidate's age, occupation and a brief description of the candidate (no mention of other candidates is allowed). The Statement of Qualifications must be filed at the same time the Declaration of Candidacy is filed. No reference to political party affiliation or any mention of political party membership or activity is permitted.

A Candidate Statement of Qualifications may be withdrawn, but not changed, during the period for filing Nomination Documents and until 5 p.m. of the next working day after the close of the nomination period. Statements are confidential until after the close of the nomination period. Copies of all Candidate Statements of Qualifications will be available for public inspection at the Elections Office after the expiration of the filing deadline. (EC Sec. 13311)

Statements of Qualifications must be filed no later than 5 p.m. on the last day of the nomination period. Statements must be filed at the time Nomination Documents are filed.

The statement of each candidate shall be printed in type of uniform size and darkness, and with uniform spacing. (EC13307 (b) ) All statements will be set in a left-justified format, so as to fit within a 1/4 page space (for a 200 word statement). Entire statements in all capital letters, multiple indentations, circles, or arrows cannot be accommodated. Generally, any characters that can be produced from a standard keyboard are acceptable (i.e., !, @, *, -, ( ), %, #), however, no paragraph or sentence shall be started with a number or any punctuation mark.

Because the Elections Code mandates that all statements must be uniform, bolded, CAPITALIZED and Underlined words are not acceptable. Indentations or multiple underscoring will not be allowed. Items in a list will not be allowed unless the list is in the form of a paragraph. All statements should be checked by the candidate for spelling, punctuation and grammar. The county elections official will not edit any material to correct mistakes. Statements with spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors will be printed exactly as submitted.
Nothing in the foregoing shall be deemed to make any such statement or the authors thereof free or exempt from any civil or criminal action or penalty because of any false, slanderous or libelous statements offered for printing or contained in the Sample Ballot Booklet.

Name, age, and Occupation (located at the top of the form) are not counted, only the text of the Candidate Statement. Age and Occupation information is optional.

State Elections Code intends for uniformity of appearance of the Candidates' Statements. By preparing your statement in accordance with the above guidelines, each statement will be uniformly printed and allowed the same amount of space in the Sample Ballot Booklet. This avoids favored composition or printing of one Candidate Statement of Qualifications over another.

Note: It is the responsibility of the candidate, if he/she has any questions concerning the guidelines for filing a Candidate Statement of Qualifications, to request help or clarification. If a Candidate Statement of Qualifications is submitted and found not to be in compliance with these guidelines, the County Clerk will make the necessary changes to bring the statement into compliance--but the County Clerk will not correct spelling or grammatical errors.