Measure C

Amendments to San Diego Charter Regarding Board of Education Elections

Would amend the San Diego City Charter to eliminate the Municipal Primary Election to fill a San Diego Board of Education (Board) seat up for election when there are two or fewer candidates who qualify to participate in the election. Instead, the Board seat would be voted upon at the Municipal General Election. For context, Municipal Primary and General Elections are often consolidated with the respective State of California elections. Measure C is a Charter Amendment and requires 50%+1 of the vote to pass.

Fiscal Impact: Eliminating the primary election for a Board member seat that has two or fewer candidates would save the San Diego Unified School District approximately $130,000 per seat.

Next San Diego County Measure: Measure D

See Endorsements for Measure C

Charter section 66 governs the composition and elections of the School Board. In 2020, voters approved amendments to Charter section 66 which changed the election of members from a district-wide vote to individual district-based elections and amended the elections process when there is a vacancy on the School Board. Under Charter section 66, the two candidates that qualify to run for a particular School Board seat and receive the most votes in the Primary advance to the General Election. Under this Charter language, when there are only two candidates on the ballot for a School Board seat in the Primary, those two candidates must run twice: first in the Primary and again in the General Election. A candidate running unopposed for a School Board seat must also run twice, in the Primary and the General Election. 

Under the proposed amendments, if two or fewer candidates, including write-in candidates who meet the requirements for write-in candidates in the Municipal Code, qualify to run for a particular School Board seat in the Primary, voters will vote on that seat at the General Election and not the Primary. For example, if only two candidates qualified to run for a particular School Board seat, both candidates would automatically proceed to the General Election and would not be voted on at the Primary. 

The proposed amendments were proposed by the School Board as part of the Council Policy 000-21 process, and were heard by the City Council’s Rules Committee on April 18, 2024, and again on June 5, 2024. The City Council voted to place this measure on the ballot. 

Passage of this measure requires the affirmative majority vote of those qualified electors registered within the legal boundaries of the School District voting on the matter at the Municipal Special Election. Under Article IX, section 16(b) of the California Constitution, only those voters registered to vote within the geographic boundaries of the School District may vote on a City Charter amendment regarding School Board members, their removal from office, and their election. 

Source: Measure C Impartial Analysis

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