Candidate Instructional Guide November 2024

Candidate Statement

postponed until after the election. The candidate shall be required to pay the actual candidate statement cost billed by the County.

WORD COUNT

The candidate statement is limited to 200 words, comprised of no more than five paragraphs. Pursuant to the Elections Code, punctuation is not counted, and each word shall be counted as one word except as specified below:

• All geographical names shall be considered one word; for example, "City and County of San Francisco" shall be counted as one word.

• Each abbreviation for a word, phrase, or expression shall be counted as one word.

• Telephone numbers shall be counted as one word.

• Hyphenated words appearing in any generally available standard reference dictionary, published in the United States at any time within the ten calendar years immediately preceding the election for which the words are counted, shall be considered one word. Each part of all other hyphenated words shall be counted as a separate word. • Dates consisting of a combination of words and digits shall be counted as two words. Dates consisting only of a combination of digits shall be counted as one word. • Any number consisting of a digit or digits shall be considered one word. Any number that is spelled, such as "one," shall be considered as a separate word or words. For example: "one" shall be counted as one word, whereas "one hundred" shall be counted as two words. "100" shall be counted as one word.

• Internet website addresses shall be counted as one word.

Once the statement is submitted, no editing shall be done by the City Clerk's Office. Statements that exceed 200 words in length shall be shortened by City Clerk staff by removing words from the end of the statement until the word limit is reached.

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17575 Peak Avenue | Morgan Hill, CA 95037 (408) 779-7259 | clerk@morganhill.ca.gov

Rev. 03/16/22