Election Day is Nov. 5. And your mail-in ballot will be arriving in your mailbox up to a month before that — as long your voter registration is up-to-date.
But what if you’re wondering, “How do I know if I’m registered to vote?” whether election officials have your correct mailing address and when voter registration ends? What if you want to register to vote for the very first time and need to know the requirements for registration? And what if you’re registered to vote with a particular political party but you’re considering voting for another party’s presidential candidate?
Keep reading for everything you need to know about registering to vote or jump straight to:
- What should I do if I’ve moved to a new address?
- I changed my name — how do I update my voter registration?
- I want to register for the first time
- When will my ballot arrive?
- I’m registered to vote with a specific political party. Do I have to vote for their presidential candidate?
I’m pretty sure I’m already registered to vote, but how can I check?
You can check your voter registration status at voterstatus.sos.ca.gov. This will show whether you’re actually registered to vote and to which address.
If your voter registration shows as active, and your address and name are all up-to-date, great: You can rest easy in the knowledge that your mail-in ballot will be arriving in several weeks.
Closer to the election, you can also use voterstatus.sos.ca.gov to check if your ballot was mailed out. You can also use the Where’s My Ballot? Tool to check whether your ballot has been sent.
What are some reasons I might need to update my voter registration?
Updating your voter registration is also known as “re-registering” to vote — because to update elements of your voter record at registertovote.ca.gov, you’ll need to register to vote again as if you were making a new application.
As a general rule, you’ll definitely need to re-register if your name or address has changed. But if registering to vote when you know you’re already registered feels weird, don’t worry: this won’t be seen as you trying to fraudulently register to vote twice or anything like that. Because your voter registration is tied to your social security number and your driver’s license/state ID card number, your new voter registration will be matched with your existing voter registration and your details will be updated that way. There will also be a section on the form where you can provide any previous addresses and names you’ve been registered to vote under.
If you want to change your party preference, you’ll also need to re-register to do that — but remember that unlike the primary elections earlier this year, you can vote for any presidential candidate in a general election — not just the candidate with the party you’re registered with.
For smaller changes, your county may allow you to submit a Voter Action Form by mail or online. For example, if San Francisco residents want to make minor changes to their voter registration, they can use a form from the San Francisco Department of Elections to determine whether they can do so online. Find your Bay Area county elections office’s website and contact details.
You should update your voter registration if:
If you have moved to a new address within California
If your old address is on your voter registration, then your mail-in ballot will automatically be sent to that address — not your new one. Your voter registration will only reflect your new address if you’ve manually updated it or if you’ve updated your address with the DMV.
Register to vote with your new address at registertovote.ca.gov.
The state says that you can also send a signed letter to your current county elections official to let them know you’ve moved, along with your date of birth and current address. Find your Bay Area county elections office’s website and contact details.
If you have legally changed your name
In this case, you’ll need to re-register to vote with your current (new) name. One important thing: Before you do that, the Secretary of State recommends that you update your California driver’s license or identification card with the DMV first.
This is because when you register to vote online, your county elections office electronically requests a copy of the signature the DMV currently has for you. And if you haven’t updated your signature with the DMV, the signature the agency sends to your county elections office will be the signature for your previous name, not your new one, and your registration will be rejected. Read how to update your signature with the DMV.
What if you aren’t able to update your details with the DMV first? Then, the state recommends you select “decline” on the application when asked to use your DMV signature to register to vote — but you’ll have to hit “print” and sign the paper application, which you’ll mail it.
Register to vote with your new name at registertovote.ca.gov.
If you haven’t voted in a while
“In general,” says the state, you’ll stay registered to vote for as long as you remain at the same address you’re registered with — but “there are cases in which voter registration can be canceled if a voter has not voted in several consecutive general elections.”
So if your ballot doesn’t arrive in October, and you suspect it might be because you haven’t voted in many years, contact your county’s elections office ASAP. Jump straight to our list of Bay Area county elections offices.
When is my last chance to update my voter registration?
If you forget to re-register with your new address or name, and your ballot is sent out in October to the wrong address or without your current name, don’t worry. As long as you update your voter registration online at registertovote.ca.gov before the Oct. 21 deadline, your county will just cancel the ballot that went to your old address and send you a new one.
And if things get hectic in October and you miss that Oct. 21 to re-register online, you can still update your voter registration — you’ll just have to do it in person at that stage. Go to your county elections office or an open voting location and ask to register in person via Same Day Registration (also called conditional registration). You can do this up until when polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5.
How can I register to vote for the first time?
You can register to vote if you’re:
- A United States citizen and a resident of California,
- 18 years old or older on Election Day
People who are currently serving a state or federal prison term for the conviction of a felony cannot vote or register to vote.
You can register to vote online at registertovote.ca.gov before the Oct. 21 deadline. After that, you can register to vote in person at your county elections office or an open voting location, where you can register through Same Day Registration (also called conditional registration). You can do this up until when polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5.
If you’re unhoused or have no fixed address, you can still register to vote by providing a description of the place where you spend most of your time if you don’t have a street address, including cross streets. You can register to vote this way via online application before Oct. 21 or on the paper voter registration application you can pick up at any Department of Motor Vehicles field office, or many post offices, public libraries, government offices or your county elections office by request (where you can also use Same Day Registration in person.)
My voter registration is fine, but do I have to request a mail-in ballot for Election 2024?
No — every registered voter in California will automatically receive a ballot in the mail.
You can use that ballot to cast your vote or you can forget that ballot and request a fresh one at a voting location. The one that arrived in the mail will be canceled.
When will my ballot arrive?
Oct. 7 is the deadline for Bay Area counties to start mailing out ballots, but many counties will get started several days before that. This means your ballot will most likely be arriving in early-mid October.
You can use both voterstatus.sos.ca.gov and the state’s Where’s My Ballot? Tool to check whether your ballot has been sent out.
When voting for president, do I have to vote for the party I’m registered with?
In a general election, you can vote for any candidate — not just the candidate with the party you’re registered with. Unlike in the primary elections earlier this year, this means that even if you’re a registered Republican, you can vote for the Democratic candidate or vice versa. Same for if you’re a “no party preference” voter (also known as an independent): you can vote for any presidential candidate on your ballot.