--- type: "Bill" title: "Primary election date." description: "Existing law requires that the statewide direct primary be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March in each even-numbered year. Existing law requires that the presidential primary be held on that same date in any year that is evenly divisible by 4." jurisdiction: "us/states/ca" legislature: "California Legislature" session: "20192020" identifier: "SB 970" citation: "California SB 970 (20192020)" classification: ["bill"] subjects: ["Primary election date."] status: "enacted" primary_sponsors: ["Umberg"] version_count: 7 action_count: 25 vote_count: 5 first_action: "2020-02-11" last_action: "2020-09-18" source: "openstates" source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4e646a15-76f0-4c26-949b-8199975572b8" source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB970" source_hash: "3441ef2d00726d970ee4f0cc269612441b24637fc65c11a3069b6dab5b9a3378" 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 SB 970 (20192020) — Primary election date. Existing law requires that the statewide direct primary be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March in each even-numbered year. Existing law requires that the presidential primary be held on that same date in any year that is evenly divisible by 4. ## Version chain The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment. 1. **02/11/20 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB970&version=20190SB97099INT) 2. **03/17/20 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB970&version=20190SB97098AMD) 3. **05/11/20 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB970&version=20190SB97097AMD) 4. **05/29/20 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB970&version=20190SB97096AMD) 5. **09/18/20 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB970&version=20190SB97094CHP) 6. **SB970** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB970) 7. **08/25/20 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB970&version=20190SB97095ENR) ## Votes - Do pass. — **16–1** (pass) · lower - Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **5–0** (pass) · upper - SB 970 Umberg Senate Third Reading By Berman — **66–5** (pass) · lower - Consent Calendar SB970 — **39–0** (pass) · upper - Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **6–1** (pass) · lower ## Sponsors - Umberg — primary (person) - Atkins — principal coauthor (person) - Berman — author (person) - Rendon — principal coauthor (person) ## Timeline The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote. - **2020-02-11** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1` - **2020-02-12** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 13. - **2020-02-20** Referred to Com. on E. & C.A. `referral-committee` - **2020-03-17** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on E. & C.A. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee` - **2020-05-11** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on E. & C.A. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee` - **2020-05-13** Set for hearing May 19. - **2020-05-19** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 5. Noes 0. Page 3559.) (May 19). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee` - **2020-05-26** Set for hearing June 1. - **2020-05-29** June 1 hearing postponed by committee. - **2020-05-29** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `reading-1, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, referral-committee` - **2020-06-03** Set for hearing June 9. - **2020-06-08** From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to consent calendar. `committee-passage, reading-2` - **2020-06-09** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-1, reading-2` - **2020-06-11** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 3684.) Ordered to the Assembly. `passage, reading-3, reading-1` - **2020-06-11** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1` - **2020-06-18** Referred to Com. on E. & R. `referral-committee` - **2020-07-08** July 13 hearing postponed by committee. - **2020-07-27** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (July 27). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage, referral-committee` - **2020-08-11** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 16. Noes 1.) (August 11). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage` - **2020-08-12** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2` - **2020-08-24** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 66. Noes 5. Page 5171.) Ordered to the Senate. `passage, reading-3, reading-1` - **2020-08-24** In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. - **2020-08-31** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 6:30 p.m. - **2020-09-18** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature` - **2020-09-18** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 111, Statutes of 2020. ## Source OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4e646a15-76f0-4c26-949b-8199975572b8`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).