(a)
The elections official or, in the case of the recall of a state officer, the Secretary of State, shall preserve in his or her office all recall petitions filed for eight months after the results of the election for which the petition qualified or, if no election is held, eight months after the elections official’s final examination of the petition.
(b)
Thereafter, the petition shall be destroyed as soon as practicable, unless it is in evidence in some action or proceeding then pending or unless the elections official has received a written request from the Attorney General, the Secretary of State, the Fair Political Practices Commission, a district attorney, a grand jury, or the governing body of a county, city and county, city, or district, including a school district, that the petition be preserved for use in a pending or ongoing investigation into election irregularities, or in a pending or ongoing investigation into a violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 (Title 9 (commencing with Section 81000) of the Government Code).
(c)
Public access to any such petition shall be restricted in accordance with Section 6253.5 of the Government Code.