A legislative measure (which may be a bond measure, an initiative amendment, or a constitutional amendment) was written by a state legislator and adopted by both houses of the State Legislature. It must also be signed by the Governor, except in the case of a legislative constitutional amendment. A legislative measure requires a simple majority of the public's vote to be enacted.

The initiative process is the power of the people to place a measure on the statewide ballot. These measures can create or change laws or the California Constitution. If the initiative proposes to create or change California statute, proponents must gather voter signatures equal in number to 5% of the votes cast for all candidates for Governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. If the initiative proposes to change the California Constitution, proponents must gather voter signatures equal in number to 8% of the votes cast for all candidates for Governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. An initiative requires a simple majority of the public's vote to be enacted.

Referendum is the power of the people to approve or reject laws adopted by the State Legislature and the Governor. However, referenda cannot be used to approve or reject urgency measures or statutes that call for elections or provide for tax levies or appropriations for current expenses of the state. Voters wishing to repeal a legislatively adopted statute must gather voter signatures equal in number to 5% of the votes cast for all candidates for Governor in the most recent gubernatorial election within 90 days of enactment of the bill. Once on the ballot, the law is defeated if voters cast more "no" votes than "yes" votes on the referendum question.

All six measures on the May 19 statewide ballot are legislative measures.

The Secretary of State does not take positions on ballot measures. Arguments for and against ballot measures are provided by proponents and opponents of the ballot measures. Under the law, the submitted argument language cannot be verified for accuracy or changed in any way unless a court orders it to be changed.

If multiple arguments are submitted for or against a measure, first priority is given to arguments written by legislators in the case of legislative measures, and arguments written by the proponents who filed the initiative or referendum in those cases. Subsequent priority for all measures goes to bona fide associations of citizens and then to individual voters. (Elections Code sections 9067 and 9086(f))

Each of the 58 county elections offices processes its ballots differently. County elections officials are required to send their initial results to the Secretary of State's office no more than two hours after they begin tallying the votes after polls close at 8:00 p.m. on Election Day. County elections officials continue to report results periodically until all precinct vote totals have been reported. (Elections Code section 15151)

The first results that are shown are typically from vote-by-mail ballots. Voters may cast ballots up to 29 days before Election Day, and many voters do this by voting by mail. Counties may begin opening vote-by-mail ballots up to seven business days before Election Day, but those results cannot be accessed or shared with the public until the polls close at 8:00 p.m. on Election Day.

Many elections officials choose to tally and report these early voted ballots first, instead of waiting for ballots or results to come in from the individual precincts. As a result, because no full precincts have been tallied and reported, the results from these early voted ballots that are reported to the Secretary of State's website simply appear as raw vote totals because, in this initial stage, they are not attributed to individual precincts. (Elections Code sections 15101 and 15152)

Some counties show an entire precinct as having fully reported even if only one ballot from that precinct has been counted. In some cases, counties tally vote-by-mail ballots received before Election Day and report those soon after polls close but before they count the remaining ballots on election night.

Once a county submits its final report of ballot counts for election night, a "FENU" for "final election night update" will appear in the Report Type column on the County Reporting Status page. This time period is often referred to as the "semifinal official canvass." (Elections Code sections 15150 - 15152)

All valid vote-by-mail ballots that county elections officials determine have been cast by eligible voters are counted and included in the official election results. County elections officials have 35 days to complete this process and send the results to the Secretary of State. This time period is often referred to as the "official canvass." (Elections Code section 15375)

All provisional ballots that county elections officials determine have been cast by eligible voters are counted and added to the official vote tally (See About Voting in Elections: Question #3 above).

County elections officials have 35 days to complete this process. This time period is often referred to as the "official canvass." (Elections Code section 15375)

Results will be updated after all provisional ballots and vote-by-mail ballots are tallied. Depending on the volume of these types of ballots, it may take many more days for county elections officials to verify voter records and determine if ballots have been cast by eligible voters. Furthermore, results may be adjusted based on the results of post-election manual tally processes, frequently referred to as post-election audit processes, that are required by law.

How often these results are updated will vary based on the size of each county and the process each local elections office uses to tally and report votes.

Go to http://vote.sos.ca.gov/ to get updated election results any time after Election Day.

County elections officials must report their final results to the Secretary of State 35 days after Election Day, which for this election is June 23.

The Secretary of State then has four additional days to certify the results of the election, which for this election is June 27. (Elections Code section 15501)

There are two definitions of "close contest" for purposes of the Election Results website. When there is less than a 2% difference between first and second place, the website will display a grey watermark behind the contest results, with the words "Close Contest." When there is less than a 0.5% difference between first and second place, the website will display a red watermark behind the contest results, with the words "Close Contest."

Depending on the voting system or systems used in the county or counties where the election is conducted, local elections officials may be required to conduct a manual tally of the ballots cast in 2% or 5% of the precincts (depending on the contest in question) if the semi-final official result of the contest has less than a 0.5% difference between first and second place. (2 California Code of Regulations 20120 et seq.)