(

a) A person shall not be considered a legally qualified candidate for an office, for party nomination for a partisan office, or for nomination to participate in the general election for a voter-nominated office, under the laws of this state unless that person has filed a declaration of candidacy or statement of write-in candidacy with the proper official for the particular election or primary, or is entitled to have his or her name placed on a general election ballot by reason of having been nominated at a primary election, or having been selected to fill a vacancy on the general election ballot as provided in

Section 8807, or having been selected as an independent candidate pursuant to

Section 8304. (

b) Nothing in this

section shall be construed as preventing or prohibiting any qualified voter of this state from casting a ballot for a person by writing the name of that person on the ballot, or from having that ballot counted or tabulated, nor shall this

section be construed as preventing or prohibiting a person from standing or campaigning for an elective office by means of a “write-in” campaign. However, nothing in this

section shall be construed as an exception to the requirements of

Section or to permit a person to be a write-in candidate contrary to Sections and 8606. (

c) It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this section, to enable the Federal Communications Commission to determine who is a “legally qualified candidate” in this state for the purposes of administering

Section of Title of the United States Code.