Overview
Seats listed for nomination are either full-term (4-year) or short-term (2-year or less). A short-term seat is due to a vacancy in the first half of an elected officeholder’s term. Members are elected at-large or by Trustee Areas as indicated.
Offices open for nomination
School districts - Governing Board Members / Trustees
Qualifications to be a Candidate
Education Code §1000, §1006, §35107.
Candidates must be a registered voter in the district who is not disqualified by the Constitution or laws of the state from holding a public office.
A Board of Education candidate must be an elector of the trustee area which they represent and shall be elected by the electors of the trustee area.
Any registered voter is eligible to be a member of the county board of education except the county superintendent of schools or any member of their staff, or any employee of a school district that is within the jurisdiction of the county board of education.
- Marin County Board of Education:
One full-term seat each in Trustee Areas 1, 2, 4 and 7 - Bolinas Stinson Union School District:
Two full-term seats - Kentfield School District:
Two full-term seats; One short-term seat - Laguna Joint School District:
Two full-term seats - Lagunitas School District:
Two full-term seats - Larkspur-Corte Madera School District:
Two full-term seats - Marin Community College District:
One full-term seat each in Trustee Areas 2, 4, 5 and 7 - Mill Valley School District:
Two full-term seats - Miller Creek Elementary School District:
Two full-term seats; One short-term seat - Nicasio School District:
One full-term seats - Novato Unified School District:
One full-term seat each for Trustee Areas 1, 2, 3 and 7 - Reed Union School District:
Two full-term seats - Ross School District:
Two full-term seats - Ross Valley School District:
Three full-term seats - San Rafael City Schools Board of Education:
One full-term seat each for Areas 1, 3 and 5
(Candidate documents to be issued by San Rafael City Clerk) - Sausalito-Marin City School District:
Two full-term seats - Shoreline Unified School District:
One full-term seat each for Trustee Areas 1 and 2;
Two full-term seats for Trustee Area 3 - Tamalpais Union High School District:
Two full-term seats
Special districts - Directors / Board Members
Community Services Districts
Qualifications to be a Candidate
Election Code §201, Public Resource Code 5784(c).
- Candidates must be a registered voter in the district and qualified to vote for that office at the time nomination documents are issued to the candidate.
- Bel Marin Keys Community Services District:
Three full-term seats - Marin City Community Services District:
Two full-term seats - Marinwood Community Services District:
Three full-term seats - Muir Beach Community Services District:
Two full-term seats - Tamalpais Community Services District:
Three full-term seats - Tomales Village Community Services District:
Two full-term seats
- Bel Marin Keys Community Services District:
Fire Protection Districts
Qualifications to be a Candidate
Election Code §201, Public Resource Code 5784(c).
- Candidates must be a registered voter in the district and qualified to vote for that office at the time nomination documents are issued to the candidate.
- Bolinas Fire Protection District:
Three full-term seats - Kentfield Fire Protection District:
Two full-term seats - Novato Fire Protection District:
One full-term seat each for Districts 1, 2 and 3 - Sleepy Hollow Fire Protection District:
Two full-term seats - Southern Marin Fire Protection District:
Three full-term seats - Stinson Beach Fire Protection District:
Three full-term seats - Tiburon Fire Protection District:
Two full-term seats;
One short-term seat
- Bolinas Fire Protection District:
Marin Healthcare District
Qualifications to be a Candidate
Health & Safety Code §32100, §32110.
- Candidate must be a registered voter in the district. No person who is a director, employee, or medical staff of a hospital owned or operated by a district shall do either of the following: (1) Possess any ownership interest in any other hospital serving the same area as that served by the district hospital of which the person is a director; (2) Be a director, employee, or medical staff of any hospital serving the same area as the area served by the district hospital unless the boards of directors of the district and the hospital have determined that the situation will further efficient delivery of health care services of the areas served by their respective hospitals, or unless the district and the hospital are affiliated under ownership, lease, or any combination thereof.
- Three full-term seats
Marin Resource Conservation District
Qualifications to be a Candidate
Public Resources Code §9352, §9358.
- Candidate shall reside within the district and either own real property in the district or alternatively have served, pursuant to the district’s rules, for two years or more as an associate director providing advisory or other assistance to the board of directors; or be a designated agent of a resident landowner within the district.
* Requires signatures of five (5) landowners within the district.- Three full-term seats
Public Utility Districts
Qualifications to be a Candidate
Election Code §201, Public Resource Code 5784(c).
- Candidates must be a registered voter in the district and qualified to vote for that office at the time nomination documents are issued to the candidate.
- Bolinas Community Public Utility District:
Two full-term seats - Inverness Public Utility District:
Three full-term seats
- Bolinas Community Public Utility District:
Recreation Districts
Qualifications to be a Candidate
Election Code §201, Public Resource Code 5784(c).
- Candidates must be a registered voter in the district and qualified to vote for that office at the time nomination documents are issued to the candidate.
- Mesa Park Recreation District:
Two full-term seats - Strawberry Recreation District:
Two full-term seats;
One short-term seat
- Mesa Park Recreation District:
Sanitary Districts
Qualifications to be a Candidate
Election Code §201, Public Resource Code 5784(c).
- Candidates must be a registered voter in the district and qualified to vote for that office at the time nomination documents are issued to the candidate.
- Alto Sanitary District:
Three full-term seats - Homestead Valley Sanitary District:
Three full-term seats - Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District:
Two full-term seats;
One short-term seat - Novato Sanitary District:
One full-term seat each for Divisions 1 and 4 - Richardson Bay Sanitary District:
Two full-term seats - Sanitary District No. 5:
Three full-term seats - Sausalito-Marin City District:
Two full-term seats;
One short-term seat
- Alto Sanitary District:
Water Districts
Qualifications to be a Candidate
Election Code §201, Water Code 71501, Public Resource Code 5784(c).
- Candidates must be a registered voter in the district and qualified to vote for that office at the time nomination documents are issued to the candidate.
- Marin Municipal District:
One full-term seat each for Divisions 2 and 5 - North Marin District:
One full-term seat each for Divisions 2, 3 and 4 - Stinson Beach County District:
Three full-term seats
- Marin Municipal District:
Municipal offices - Nomination papers issued by and filed with the City/Town Clerk
Qualifications to be a Candidate
Gov. Code §34882, Elections Code §10220, §10227.
A person is not eligible to hold office as a member of a municipal legislative body unless they are otherwise qualified, resides in the district and resided in the district from which they are elected and a registered voter of the city/town at the time nomination papers are issued to the candidate.
*A minimum of 20 sponsor signatures are required for towns/cities.
Available seats in cities and towns
- City of Belvedere:
Three Council seats - Town of Corte Madera:
Two Council seats - City of Larkspur:
Four Council seats - Town of Fairfax:
Three Council seats - City of Mill Valley:
Three Council seats - City of Novato:
Three Council seats by District - Town of San Anselmo:
Three Council seats - City of San Rafael:
Two Council seats by District;
Mayor, City Clerk, City Attorney - City of Sausalito:
Three Council seats - Town of Tiburon:
Two Council seats
Is your contest on the ballot?
After the end of the nomination period(s), the Elections Department will apply the number of qualified candidates to the number of seats to be filled in each contest. The result will determine if your contest will be on the ballot or not.
Insufficient number of candidates and/or no contest
If the total number of candidates filing papers for your contest does not exceed the number of seats to be filled, you will be appointed in-lieu of an election. In other words the contest and your name will not be on the ballot.
In case there are fewer candidates than the number of seats, you will still be appointed as if elected, but the other seats must be filled:
Special District
The Board of Supervisors will conduct a search and appoint any qualified person(s) who will then serve exactly as if elected. Election Code §10515.
School District
The governing board of the district will conduct a search and appoint any qualified person(s) who will then serve exactly as if elected. Education Code §5328.
Municipal
The city’s governing body may adopt one of the following courses of action (Elections Code §10229):
- Appoint those persons having filed nomination papers before the deadline;
- Appoint an eligible person who had not filed before the deadline;
- Hold the election.
Name placement and randomized alphabet draw
If your contest is on the ballot, what order will your name appear in the list of candidates? This procedure is called the Randomized Alphabet Draw.
On the 82nd day before the election, the Secretary of State will pick letters of the alphabet at random according to the procedure specified in Elections Code §13112, resulting in a randomized alphabet list. This determines the name placement for all contests except for State Senate and State Assembly. Those are drawn by the County Registrar of Voters.
Your name will be placed on the ballot in the order that each of the letters of your surname was drawn. If multiple candidate names begin with the same letter, the second or third letter determines placement. For example candidates with the surnames of Campbell and Carlson will depend on the order in which the letters M and R were drawn.
If two or more candidates have the same last name, the alphabet will apply to the first name, and if necessary the middle name.