A party is qualified to participate in a primary election under any of the following conditions:

(a) (1) At the last preceding gubernatorial primary election, the sum of the votes cast for all of the candidates for an office voted on throughout the state who disclosed a preference for that party on the ballot was at least 2 percent of the entire vote of the state for that office.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a party may inform the Secretary of State that it declines to have the votes cast for a candidate who has disclosed that party as his or her party preference on the ballot counted toward the 2-percent qualification threshold. If the party wishes to have votes for a candidate not counted in support of its qualification under paragraph (1), the party shall notify the secretary in writing of that candidate’s name by the seventh day before the gubernatorial primary election.

(b) (1) On or before the 135th day before a primary election, it appears to the Secretary of State, as a result of examining and totaling the statement of voters and their declared political preference transmitted to him or her by the county elections officials, that voters equal in number to at least 0.33 percent of the total number of voters registered on the 154th day before the primary election have declared their preference for that party.

(2) A person whose party preference is designated as “Unknown” pursuant to Section 2154 or 2265 shall not be counted for purposes of determining the total number of voters registered on the specified day preceding the election under paragraph (1).

(c) On or before the 135th day before a primary election, there is filed with the Secretary of State a petition signed by voters, equal in number to at least 10 percent of the entire vote of the state at the last preceding gubernatorial election, declaring that they represent a proposed party, the name of which shall be stated in the petition, which proposed party those voters desire to have participate in that primary election. This petition shall be circulated, signed, and verified, and the signatures of the voters on it shall be certified to and transmitted to the Secretary of State by the county elections officials substantially as provided for initiative petitions. Each page of the petition shall bear a caption in 18-point boldface type, which caption shall be the name of the proposed party followed by the words “Petition to participate in the primary election.”

(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 32, Sec. 56. (SB 837) Effective June 27, 2016.)