Under the California Constitution, an incumbent judge of the Supreme Court or a court of appeal who seeks a successive term in office must file a declaration of candidacy. If a declaration is not filed, the Governor must nominate a candidate. At the next general election, the name of the candidate that is declared or nominated will appear on the ballot, which must present the question of whether the candidate should be elected.
This measure would authorize the Legislature to enact a statute providing that if an incumbent judge of the Supreme Court or a court of appeal files a declaration of candidacy, the judge's name will not appear on the ballot and the judge will instead be deemed elected, unless a petition is filed by a requisite number of voters requesting that the judge's name appear on the ballot for a vote.