Mandatory vs. directory

Legal jargon with huge consequences. A 'directory' rule can be broken without automatic penalty — courts held California's ballot-return rules directory until 1987. A 'mandatory' rule voids the ballot when broken, no proof of fraud needed.

The 1986 Wilks decision called the return rules 'essentially directory'; SB 133 (1987) answered by declaring them 'mandatory and not directory' — the custody firewall this site's timeline turns on.