LawWiki
HomeCodesSearchGlossaryAPIAbout
LawWiki

Plain English summaries of California law with zero-hallucination AI. Every summary is verified against official source text.

Product

  • Search
  • Codes
  • About

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Disclaimer

© 2026 LawWiki. All rights reserved.

HomeElections CodeDiv. 5Ch. 2.5§ 5153 Presidential Party Qualification Threshold

§ 5153 Presidential Party Qualification Threshold

Elections Code·California
AI Summary·Official Text·Key Terms·Related Statutes·References
AI SummaryVerified

§ 5153 Presidential Party Qualification Threshold

Key Takeaways

  • •If a political party has very few registered voters (less than 1/15 of 1% of all voters in the state), it can't be in the presidential election.
  • •The party is considered 'abandoned' by voters if it doesn't meet this number.
  • •The Secretary of State will remove the party's name from ballots and other official lists.

Example

Imagine a small party called the 'Pizza Party' has only 100 registered voters in a state with 15,000,000 total voters.

The Pizza Party would be removed from the presidential ballot because 100 voters is way less than 1/15 of 1% of all voters (which would be 10,000 voters).

AI-generated — May contain errors. Not legal advice. Always verify source.

Official Source
View on CA.gov

§ 5153 Presidential Party Qualification Threshold

Whenever the registration of any party that qualified in the previous general election falls below one-fifteenth of 1 percent of the total state registration, that party shall not be qualified to participate in a presidential general election but shall be deemed to have been abandoned by the voters. The Secretary of State shall immediately remove the name of the party from any list, notice, ballot, or other publication containing the names of the parties qualified to participate in a presidential general election. (Added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 511, Sec. 8. (AB 1419) Effective January 1, 2014.)

Last verified: January 23, 2026

Key Terms

one-fifteenth of 1 percentabandoned by the voterspresidential general election

Related Statutes

  • § 5150 General Election Ballot Access
  • § 5152 Presidential Election Party Qualification
  • § 5154 Presidential Candidate Disqualification
  • § 5101 Party Qualification Threshold
  • § 2196 Online Voter Registration

References

  • Official text at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
  • California Legislature. Elections Code. Section 5153.
View Official Source