SANTA MONICA — Due to the new emergency order issued by the city on Wednesday, July 8, Santa Monica candidates are requiring fewer signatures to appear on the November 3 ballot.
Santa Monica’s election season kicks off next week in initiating the candidate nomination period. Although the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, the California Secretary of State and Los Angeles County election officials are still requiring original signatures for validity opposed to submitting the signatures electronically. Modifications have been made through the new “twenty-first supplement,” allowing the city to alter the requirements of signatures to 60 registered voters rather than 100 in hopes of reducing contact with exposure from COVID-19 surroundings.
Taking precautionary methods such as wearing face masks and maintaining a physical distance is encouraged. In addition, city officials are requesting candidates to arrange the social gatherings and campaign events virtually instead of in-person gatherings, which are not permitted by the LA County Health Officer Order.
According to santamonica.gov, the nomination period will be from Monday, July 13 through Friday, August 7 and the open seats for elected office include:
- City Council: four full term + one partial-term seats
- Rent Control Board: two seats
- Santa Monica College District Board: three seats
- Santa Monica-Malibu School District Board: three seats
Any interested candidate that would like to learn more about the prospect, an online workshop is available on Monday, July 13 at 10 a.m. at https://primetime.bluejeans.com/a2m/live-event/udukvaju to learn about the candidate nomination process. There will also be mandatory forms at the City Clerk’s Office which will need to be filled out by Friday, August 7 at 5 p.m. For any other inquiries, please visit smvote.org.
