AB2691 - Elections: elective office: felony conviction.

Enrolled August 27, 2026 Passed IN Senate August 25, 2026 Passed IN Assembly August 25, 2026 Amended IN Senate August 04, 2026 Amended IN Senate June 24, 2026 Amended IN Assembly March 16, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 2691 Introduced by Assembly Member Addis (Coauthor: Assembly Member Quirk-Silva) (Coauthor: Senator Rubio) February 20, 2026 An act to amend Section 20 of the Elections Code, relating to elections. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2691, Addis. Elections: elective office: felony conviction. Existing law prohibits the consideration of a person as a candidate for, and provides that the person is not eligible to be elected to, any state or local elective office if the person has been convicted of a felony involving accepting or giving, or offering to give, any bribe, the embezzlement of public money, extortion or theft of public money, perjury, or conspiracy to commit any of those crimes. This bill would additionally prohibit the consideration of a person as a candidate for, and provide that the person is not eligible to be elected to, any state or local elective office if they have been convicted of a felony involving sexual assault or human trafficking, as defined. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) The #MeToo and #WeSaidEnough movements in 2017 and 2018, revelations from the Epstein files investigation in 2025 and 2026, and other high-profile cases of sexual abuse have enlightened the American public to the prevalence of sexual violence perpetrated by people in power. (2) Along with the publicity, there have also been extensive efforts to silence the voices of survivors through fear, intimidation, and litigation. (3) Public trust is about more than just ensuring that elected officials are not using their public office to commit crimes for financial gain or power. (4) It is also about ensuring that elected officials are not committing sexual assault and trafficking crimes that endanger constituents, staff, and public safety. (5) Elected officials hold prominent positions of influence and authority including unfettered access to and authority over a wide variety of people, including children, members of the public in need of help, staff, and interns; as well as sensitive information that is not available to the public. (6) Additionally, survivors of sexual assault and human sex trafficking are particularly vulnerable to being retraumatized by the actions, attitudes, institutional signals, and community responses to sex crimes. (7) When the response is to minimize the crime, or elevate the perpetrator to higher levels of power, survivors suffer even more and are often prevented from healing. (8) Serious crimes of sexual assault and human sex trafficking involve an imbalance of power, coercion, and harm to vulnerable people. (9) These crimes demonstrate that an individual is willing to abuse their power to violate the rights of others. (10) Since 2018, the State of California has taken numerous strides to prevent sexual harassment and sexual assault, particularly in the workplace. These efforts include the enactment of Senate Bill 1300 of the 2017–18 Regular Session (Jackson, Ch. 955, Stats. 2018) and Assembly Bill 933 (Aguiar-Curry, Ch. 670, Stats. 2023). (11) Furthermore, the State of California has enacted reforms focused on preventing child sexual assault and assuring survivors have a path to justice, including Assembly Bill 452 (Addis, Ch. 655, Stats. 2023) and Senate Bill 848 (Pérez, Ch. 460, Stats 2025). (12) Serving in public office is one of the highest honors and leaders must earn the public’s trust. (b) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to enact this bill to protect the public and those whose voices have too often gone unheard. SEC. 2. Section 20 of the Elections Code is amended to read: 20. (a) A person shall not be considered a candidate for, and is not eligible to be elected to, any state or local elective office if the person has been convicted of a felony involving accepting or giving, or offering to give, any bribe, the embezzlement of public money, extortion or theft of public money, perjury, sexual assault, human trafficking, or conspiracy to commit any of those crimes. (b) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) “Conviction of a felony” includes a conviction of a felony in this state and a conviction under the laws of any other state, the United States, or any foreign government or country of a crime that, if committed in this state, would be a felony, and for which the person has not received a pardon from the Governor of this state, the governor or other officer authorized to grant pardons in another state, the President of the United States, or the officer of the foreign government or country authorized to grant pardons in that foreign jurisdiction. (2) “Human trafficking” means a violation of subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 236.1 of the Penal Code. (3) “Sexual assault” means a crime that requires a person to register as a sex offender pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (d) of Section 290 of the Penal Code.