I agree that commonly "calendar year" refers to a period from January 1 to December 31.  However, for an election occurring in 2012, neither calendar 2011 or calendar 2012 makes much sense.  It would work reasonably well to use calendar 2012 for an election held in November, but what about a special election held in January?  Furthermore, neither calendar 2011 nor calendar 2012 "lead[s] up to" the general election.  Each leads up to January 1 of the following year.  Therefore, neither calendar 2011 nor calendar 2012 is consistent with the statutory language, whereas the 365-day period immediately prior to the election is.  As Mark Scarberry showed, that interpretation matches a recognized use of the phrase "calendar year," albeit admittedly not the most common use.

          For these reasons, I agree with Mark's interpretation.

             Best,

             Daniel H. Lowenstein
             Director, Center for the Liberal Arts and Free Institutions (CLAFI)
             UCLA Law School
             405 Hilgard
             Los Angeles, California 90095-1476
             310-825-5148


________________________________
From: election-law-bounces@mailman.lls.edu [election-law-bounces@mailman.lls.edu] On Behalf Of Jon Roland [jon.roland@constitution.org]
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 3:24 PM
To: election-law@mailman.lls.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] what do people understand this sentence to mean?

In most states where I have found the phrase used, it means the calendar year beginning January 1. That is the meaning in Texas.

-- Jon

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