5201.
(a) (1) The Secretary of State shall notify any party that is qualified under this division on the effective date of the act adding this section, but whose name includes any variation of the phrase “no party preference” or “decline to state” or the word “independent,” that the party is legally required to change its name.(2) The Secretary of State shall notify each voter registered to a party described in paragraph (1) that the voter is registered to a party whose name includes a word or phrase in violation of Section 5001 and informing the voter of the process described in this section for the party’s name change.
(b) (1) A party that is qualified under this division on the effective date of the act adding this section, but whose name includes any variation of the phrase “no party preference” or “decline to state” or the word “independent,” shall file, by October 29, 2019, a change of name notice with the Secretary of State that complies with the requirements in subdivision (a) of Section 5001.
(2) If the change of name is approved by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State shall update, by October 30, 2019, any form, list, notice, ballot, publication, or database containing the names of qualified parties. A registration made on a form containing the prior name of the party shall continue to be accepted and a party preference expression made for the party using
the prior name remains valid for the purposes of this division until rescinded by the voter. Any existing list, form, notice, or publication may be altered to comply with this paragraph.
(3) If the party fails to submit an appropriate change of name notice, the Secretary of State shall disqualify the party on October 30, 2019. Upon disqualification, the Secretary of State shall immediately remove the name of the party from any form, list, notice, ballot, publication, or database containing the names of qualified parties. Any voter registered to the party shall be reclassified as a no party preference voter until the voter provides another preference. Any
existing list, form, notice, or publication may be altered to comply with this paragraph.
(c) The Secretary of State shall notify each voter registered to a party described in this section as follows:
(1) If the party lawfully changes its name as provided in this section, a notice shall be sent informing the voter of the party’s new name and that the voter shall continue to be registered to the party, but under the new name.
(2) If the party does not lawfully change its name as provided in this section, a notice shall be sent informing the voter that the party has lost its qualification under the Elections Code and that the voter may select a new party preference, but if the voter fails to do so, the voter shall
be considered a no party preference voter.