republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20112012/sb-1275.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Vacancies in office: special elections."
description: "Existing law requires the Governor to issue a proclamation calling a special election to fill a vacancy in the office of Representative in Congress or either house of the Legislature within 14 days of when the vacancy occurs. Existing law requires that a special general election be conducted to fill the vacancy on a Tuesday at least 112 days, but not more than 126 days, following the issuance of the election proclamation. Existing law requires that a special primary election be conducted on a Tuesday either 8 or 9 weeks prior to the date of the special general election, as specified. Existing law imposes deadlines relating to the filing of nomination papers for a candidate in a special primary election, as specified. Existing law also imposes deadlines for submitting an application for a vote by mail ballot in a special election."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20112012"
identifier: "SB 1275"
citation: "California SB 1275 (20112012)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Vacancies in office: special elections."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Lieu"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 21
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2012-02-23"
last_action: "2012-09-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/78c48484-956a-4db7-a613-e96070ef2203"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB1275"
source_hash: "9a1f2d2060fc370538da3a76717d46f10ddd132ca84d42c6266e4c869f000b11"
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 1275 (20112012) — Vacancies in office: special elections.

Existing law requires the Governor to issue a proclamation calling a special election to fill a vacancy in the office of Representative in Congress or either house of the Legislature within 14 days of when the vacancy occurs. Existing law requires that a special general election be conducted to fill the vacancy on a Tuesday at least 112 days, but not more than 126 days, following the issuance of the election proclamation. Existing law requires that a special primary election be conducted on a Tuesday either 8 or 9 weeks prior to the date of the special general election, as specified. Existing law imposes deadlines relating to the filing of nomination papers for a candidate in a special primary election, as specified. Existing law also imposes deadlines for submitting an application for a vote by mail ballot in a special election.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/23/12 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB1275&version=20110SB127599INT)
2. **04/24/12 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB1275&version=20110SB127598AMD)
3. **09/28/12 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB1275&version=20110SB127596CHP)
4. **SB1275** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB1275)
5. **08/16/12 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB1275&version=20110SB127597ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass, to Consent Calendar. — **17–0** (pass) · lower
- SB 1275 Lieu Consent Calendar Second Day — **79–0** (pass) · lower
- Special Consent #10 — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on Appropriations. — **7–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended, and re-refer to the Committee on Appropriations. — **5–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Lieu — primary (person)
- La Malfa — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2012-02-23** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2012-02-24** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 25.
- **2012-03-08** Referred to Com. on E. & C.A. `referral-committee`
- **2012-03-29** Set for hearing April 19.
- **2012-04-23** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0. Page 3233.) (April 19). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2012-04-24** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `reading-2, reading-1, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2012-04-27** Set for hearing May 7.
- **2012-05-07** From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage`
- **2012-05-08** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2012-05-09** Ordered to special consent calendar.
- **2012-05-14** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 37. Noes 0. Page 3495.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2012-05-14** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2012-05-25** Referred to Com. on E. & R. `referral-committee`
- **2012-06-20** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 19). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2012-08-09** From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (August 8). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2012-08-13** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2012-08-16** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 79. Noes 0. Page 5968.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2012-08-16** In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
- **2012-08-20** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4:30 p.m.
- **2012-09-28** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2012-09-28** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 685, Statutes of 2012.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/78c48484-956a-4db7-a613-e96070ef2203`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).