Are You Eligible to Vote? 
To vote in California, you must be:

• A U.S. citizen and a resident of California,
• 18 years or older on Election Day,
• Not currently in state or federal prison or on parole for the conviction of a felony. For more information, please see Voting Rights: Persons with a Criminal History.
• And, not currently found mentally incompetent to vote by a court. For more information, please see Voting Rights: Persons Subject to Conservatorship.

Get Started
To vote in California, you’ll need to be registered in California. Not registered yet, or not sure if you’re registered?

• Register to Vote
• Pre-Register to Vote
• Check Your Registration Status

Translated Voter Materials
新選民 (Chinese)
नए मतदाता (Hindi)
初めて投票される方 (Japanese)
ចុះឈ្មោះបោះឆ្នោត (Khmer)
새 유권자 (Korean)
Magparehistro para Makaboto (Tagalog)
ผู้ลงคะแนนเสียงรายใหม่ (Thai)
Cử Tri Mới (Vietnamese)

• Watch on YouTube – How to Return Your Completed Vote-by-Mail Ballot

Ensuring Participation: Increasing Voter Access

• Watch on YouTube – Ensuring Participation Increasing Voter Access

Demystifying Vote-by-Mail
In California, you may request a vote-by-mail ballot for a particular election or you may request permanent vote-by-mail status. California, along with 28 other states do this. Five states conduct all elections entirely by mail – Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah. Given Covid-19, what are the changes regarding vote-by-mail? Is it possible for California to follow in the footsteps of “all mail elections” states? How is California working with the U.S. Postal Service? 

In this webinar, our campus student leaders address these questions with elections experts, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, and Dr. Mindy Romero.

• Watch on YouTube – Demystifying Vote By Mail Webinar

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Click on any of the FAQs below which will guide you to the relevant Secretary of State web pages. Use your state’s Secretary of State website as the primary source for elections and voting information. For more information, call the Secretary of State’s toll-free Voter Hotline at (800) 345-VOTE (8683) or contact your county elections office.

1.  How do I verify my voter registration status?
2. How do I become a permanent vote-by-mail voter? Update your voter registration status to become a permanent vote-by-mail voter at RegisterToVote.ca.gov.
3. How do I submit my vote-by-mail ballot? 
4. Once I’ve submitted my ballot, how can I track my vote-by-mail ballot? 
5. Will safe in-person voting be available? 
6. How do I apply to become an elections poll worker?

Cybersecurity and Election Interference
In 2016, national intelligence agencies confirmed that the Russian government interfered with the 2016 presidential election. This was done through propaganda created on social media platforms. No successful hacking of elections systems occurred. To prevent this from happening again and to prevent possible security breaches, Congress allocated $380 million in 2018 to help states strengthen their election cybersecurity. How has California used funding to strengthen the state’s voting system? What concerns were state elections officials addressing when they made their decisions?

In this webinar, campus student leaders explore election security issues with experts – California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, and Alliance for Securing Democracy’s David Levine.

• Watch on YouTube – Cybersecurity and Election Interference Webinar

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Click on any of the FAQs below which will guide you to the relevant California Secretary of State web pages. Use your state’s Secretary of State website as the primary source for elections and voting information. 

1. What is a provisional ballot? What happens after you cast it?
2. What is a common misunderstanding about provisional ballots?
3. How can you check the status of your provisional ballot by phone or online?
4. Where are the safe in-person voting locations in my county?
5. What is the Office of Election Cybersecurity and Enterprise Risk Management?
6. How is California working with national intelligence agencies to improve election cybersecurity?

• Watch on YouTube – Election Cybersecurity Briefing with DHS, Cal OES, and Law Enforcement

7. How are elections secured in California in all phases of the elections process?

• Watch on YouTube – Election Security in California

8. What is California doing to curb election misinformation – Vote Sure Initiative, Vote Safe Portal?

9. In addition to voting, how can voters help combat elections misinformation?

Related Resources

Research and studies that are mentioned in the webinar can be found here. For accurate and timely information, we recommend that you begin your research here.

1. National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) – #TRUSTEDINFO2020
   
2. U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Homeland Security
3. Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD)

• David Levine Testifies before House Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation (Aug. 4, 2020)
• ASD & the Bipartisan Policy Center – 20 for 20: 20 Ways to Protect the 2020 Presidential Election (May 20, 2020)

4. National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) – State Statutes Prohibiting Tampering with Voting Systems

Use the non-partisan resources below to learn about your representatives, candidates, ballot measures, and more.
Find Your Representatives
California Legislature

You are represented by one (1) Assembly Member and one (1) State Senator:

• State Assembly
• State Senate

U.S. Congress

You are represented by one (1) House Member and two (2) U.S. Senators:

• House of Representatives
• Senate

Your Ballot

Candidates

• Vote Smart – The Voter’s Self-Defense System