We must decide in this case whether portions of the recently enacted Presidential Tax Transparency and Accountability Act (Elec. Code, § 6880 et seq.) (the Act) conflict with article II, section 5, subdivision (c) of the California Constitution (article II, section 5(c)) and are therefore invalid. At issue are the Act's provisions that prohibit the Secretary of State from printing on a primary election ballot the name of a candidate for President of the United States who has not filed with the Secretary of State the candidate's federal income tax returns for the five most recent taxable years. Because of the important and time-sensitive nature of this controversy, we have exercised our original jurisdiction to entertain an emergency petition for a writ of mandate that would forbid the Secretary of State from enforcing the pertinent sections of the Act. Upon issuing an order to show cause, we directed the parties to submit briefing on an expedited basis to ensure the matter would be decided ahead of the November 26, 2019 statutory deadline for candidates to disclose their tax returns to appear on the March 3, 2020 primary ballot.

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Upon careful consideration of the parties' briefing and arguments, as well as the submission by amicus curiae, we conclude that petitioners are entitled to a writ of mandate. We direct the Secretary of State to refrain from enforcing Elections Code sections 6883 and 6884, the relevant provisions of the Act, insofar as enforcement of these sections would keep the name of a "recognized candidate[] throughout the nation or throughout California for the office of President of the United States" from being printed on the ballot of a political party that has qualified to participate in the primary election.

As we shall explain, article II, section 5(c) is properly read as including a requirement that all persons found to be "recognized candidates" in the relevant sense must appear on the appropriate primary ballot, except when an affidavit of noncandidacy has been filed. This interpretation reflects the most natural reading of article II, section 5(c), and it vindicates the intent behind this provision. The language within article II, section 5(c) providing for the inclusion of "recognized" candidates on the primary ballot was added to the state Constitution through a June 1972 ballot measure, Proposition 4. As the history of Proposition 4 makes clear, its purpose was to ensure that the voters at future California presidential primary elections would have the opportunity, within each qualifying political party, to choose among a complete array of candidates found to be "recognized candidates throughout the nation or throughout California for the office of President of the United States," who had not filed affidavits of noncandidacy to remove themselves from the ballot.

(c) The Legislature shall provide for partisan elections for presidential candidates, and political party and party central committees, including an open presidential primary whereby the candidates on the ballot are those found by the Secretary of State to be recognized candidates throughout the nation or throughout California for the office of President of the United States, and those whose names are placed on the ballot by petition, but excluding any candidate who has withdrawn by filing an affidavit of noncandidacy.