California Code, Government Code - GOV § 23373

If upon a canvass of the votes cast at the election, it appears that the votes cast for creation of the proposed county are 50 percent or less, of the total number of votes cast within each and every affected county, or 50 percent or less of the total number of votes cast within the proposed county, the board of supervisors of the principal county shall, by resolution, declare creation of the proposed county defeated and no further proceedings for creation of a county with substantially the same territory as the proposed county shall be initiated for a period of one year after the date of the election, except as otherwise provided in Section 23330.5.