1. (a) Candidate Statement Requirements

   1. (1) As part of a candidate statement, each candidate shall provide all of the following information as specified in the Notice of Election :

      1. (A) Name.
      2. (B) Job Title.
      3. (C) Employer.
      4. (D) Status as either an active member of the Defined Benefit Program or an active participant of the Cash Balance Benefit Program and years of service as a member or participant.
      5. (E) A list of no more than five (5) previous job positions held.
      6. (F) A list of no more than five (5) organizations to which the candidate belongs and positions held in those organizations.
   2. (2) As part of a candidate statement, a candidate may, but is not required to, provide a list of no more than ten (10) endorsements by individuals or entities,

   3. (3) As part of a candidate statement, a candidate may, but is not required to, provide information relevant to the following:

      1. (A) A statement of what the candidate believes the primary role of a board member should be.
      2. (B) A statement of how the candidate could contribute to CalSTRS as a board member.
      3. (C) A statement describing the education and training the candidate possesses that has prepared the candidate to serve as a board member.
   4. (4) Information included by a candidate pursuant to paragraph (3) indicating their opinions or positions on issues of general concern to the system's membership that are not in compliance with the requirements specified by the board in the Notice of Election will not be distributed. Information included by the candidate that references, directly or indirectly, a current member of the board or another candidate for election to the board will not be distributed.

   5. (5) The candidate statement shall be filed with the election coordinator by the deadline indicated in the notification letter sent to qualified candidates. Any candidate statement received after the deadline will not be distributed. Once filed, candidate statements may not be changed or withdrawn except as specified in paragraph (6) of this subdivision or subdivision (b).

      1. (i) Is accompanied by documentation that verifies the truthfulness of any factual statement, as requested by the election coordinator.
      2. (ii) Excludes the portion or portions that contained obscene, vulgar, profane, scandalous, untrue, libelous or defamatory content.
      3. (B) All decisions by the election coordinator related to candidate statements are final.

      (6)(A) The election coordinator shall reject any candidate statement that contains obscene, vulgar, profane, scandalous, untrue, libelous or defamatory content or that does not meet the statement limitations specified in paragraph (5) of this subdivision. A candidate statement that has been rejected by the election coordinator may be resubmitted by the deadline indicated in the notification letter sent to qualified candidates if the resubmitted candidate statement:

   6. (7) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to make candidate statements, or the authors thereof, free or exempt from any civil or criminal action or penalty because of any false, slanderous or libelous statements offered for printing or distributed to voters. Information contained in the statement is the responsibility of the candidate and the system shall not be held responsible for the validity of any candidate statement or the contents thereof.

2. (b) Distribution of Candidate Statements

   1. (1) The election coordinator shall distribute a copy of each candidate statement to the candidates following the candidate statement filing deadline.

   2. (2) If a candidate believes that an opposing candidate violated any provision of this section, the candidate may submit written comments concerning the opposing candidate statement subject to the following:

      1. (A) Comments must be submitted within fourteen (14) calendar days following the date the candidate statements are distributed by the election coordinator.
      2. (B) All comments must be factual and exclude any content that is obscene, vulgar, profane, scandalous, libelous or defamatory.
   3. (3) The election coordinator shall attempt to resolve a dispute between candidates over a submitted candidate statement upon receipt of comments submitted pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subdivison.
   4. (4) Following the review of candidate statements, the election coordinator shall distribute to each candidate a copy of all candidate statements as they shall appear in election materials distributed to eligible voters.

Note: Authority cited: Section 22200.5, Education Code. Reference: Sections 22200 and 22200.5, Education Code.

History

1. New section filed 5-15-2003; operative upon adoption by the Teachers' Retirement Board 3-6-2003. Submitted to OAL for printing only (Register 2003, No. 20).

2. Amendment adding final paragraph filed 5-11-2009; operative upon adoption by the State Teachers' Retirement System 4-2-2009. Amendments are exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act and exempt from OAL review pursuant to Education Code section 22200.5(c) (Register 2009, No. 20).

3. Amendment of section and Note filed 1-5-2026; operative 1-1-2026. Exempt from the APA and OAL review pursuant to Education Code section 22200.5(c) and submitted to OAL for filing and printing only pursuant to Government Code section 11343.8 (Register 2026, No. 2).