---
type: "Bill"
title: "Political party qualification."
description: "Existing law specifies the methods for a political party to qualify to participate in a primary election. Existing law provides that a party is qualified to participate in a primary election if, at the last preceding gubernatorial election, there was polled for any one of its candidates for any office voted on throughout the state, at least 2% of the entire vote of the state. Existing law also provides that a party is qualified to participate in a primary election if, on or before the 135th day before the primary election, it appears to the Secretary of State, as a result of examining and totaling the statement of voters transmitted by county elections officials, that voters equal in number to at least 1% of the entire vote of the state at the last gubernatorial election have declared an intention to affiliate with that party."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20132014"
identifier: "AB 2351"
citation: "California AB 2351 (20132014)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Political party qualification."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Gordon"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 23
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2014-02-21"
last_action: "2014-09-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/344444fa-9bd2-4a42-abec-5f5f0fa72dfa"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB2351"
source_hash: "8f3f909447f1008f46c51f1a8fa352665b07dd99cf8d71915915ede8f4d9f061"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 2351 (20132014) — Political party qualification.

Existing law specifies the methods for a political party to qualify to participate in a primary election. Existing law provides that a party is qualified to participate in a primary election if, at the last preceding gubernatorial election, there was polled for any one of its candidates for any office voted on throughout the state, at least 2% of the entire vote of the state. Existing law also provides that a party is qualified to participate in a primary election if, on or before the 135th day before the primary election, it appears to the Secretary of State, as a result of examining and totaling the statement of voters transmitted by county elections officials, that voters equal in number to at least 1% of the entire vote of the state at the last gubernatorial election have declared an intention to affiliate with that party.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/21/14 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB2351&version=20130AB235199INT)
2. **08/21/14 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB2351&version=20130AB235198AMD)
3. **09/30/14 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB2351&version=20130AB235196CHP)
4. **AB2351** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB2351)
5. **08/29/14 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201320140AB2351&version=20130AB235197ENR)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading AB2351 Gordon By DeSaulnier — **34–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be placed on the Consent Calendar. — **4–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 2351 GORDON Assembly Third Reading — **77–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 2351 GORDON Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **79–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **6–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Gordon — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2014-02-21** Introduced. To print. `introduction`
- **2014-02-23** From printer. May be heard in committee March 25.
- **2014-02-24** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2014-03-10** Referred to Com. on E. & R. `referral-committee`
- **2014-05-07** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (May 6). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2014-05-08** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2014-05-15** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 4949.) `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2014-05-15** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2014-05-22** Referred to Com. on E. & C.A. `referral-committee`
- **2014-05-28** In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
- **2014-06-18** From committee: Do pass. To consent calendar. (Ayes 4. Noes 0.) (June 17). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2014-06-19** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2014-06-23** From consent calendar.
- **2014-06-23** Ordered to third reading.
- **2014-08-21** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `reading-3, reading-1, amendment-passage`
- **2014-08-22** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2014-08-25** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 34. Noes 0. Page 4836.). `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2014-08-25** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 27 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2014-08-26** Assembly Rule 77 suspended. (Page 6444.)
- **2014-08-26** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 6477.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2014-09-08** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3:30 p.m.
- **2014-09-30** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2014-09-30** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 903, Statutes of 2014.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/344444fa-9bd2-4a42-abec-5f5f0fa72dfa`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).