My Election 2024 Ballot Hasn't Arrived Yet. What Should I Do?

Election Day — your last day to vote — is less than two weeks away, on Tuesday, Nov. 5. And at this point, every registered California voter should have automatically received their mail-in ballot.

But what if your ballot still hasn’t shown up yet?

The deadline for Bay Area counties to start mailing out their ballots was Oct. 7, but don’t panic if there’s no sign of your ballot in your mailbox. Even if something’s gone wrong, you have time — and several options — to fix things and make sure you get to cast your vote by the time polls close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 5.

(Looking for information about what’s on your ballot? Take a look at KQED’s Voter Guide, which unpacks ballot measures and compares candidates in every race in the Bay Area. And if you’ve made a mistake on your ballot, we have a guide to how to address different kinds of ballot — and signature — goofs. )

Jump straight to:

• My ballot was sent to the wrong address
• I think my ballot got lost in the mail

First, check if your voter registration is correct — and if your ballot was actually sent out

Input your details on the secretary of state’s voter status page to check your registration status.

This site will show whether you’re correctly registered to vote and to which address. It should also show whether your ballot was mailed out. Read our guide to making sure you’re correctly registered to vote.

You can also use the Where’s My Ballot? Tool to check whether your ballot has been sent.

Finding out if your voter registration is correct will help you determine next steps in getting your ballot.

• Tell us: What else do you need to know about voting in 2024?

If your ballot was sent to the wrong address

If it turns out your ballot was missing because your voter registration wasn’t updated, don’t feel bad — people move all the time and forget to update their registrations accordingly.

The deadline to update your voter registration online using the secretary of state’s voter status page was Oct. 21, so now you’ll need to re-register with your new address in person through Same Day Registration (also called “conditional registration”.) You can do this in person right up until when polls close on 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5.

You can re-register to vote at your county elections office during business hours, which is now open for early voting. You can also ask for Same Day Registration at an open voting location near you when many early voting locations open around the Bay Area on Oct. 26. Read more about how to find your closest voting location.

When you do this, your county will cancel the ballot that went to your old address and give you a new one to vote with.

Read more about registering (or re-registering) to vote in person.

If your voter registration address was correct but your ballot never showed up

If it’s more than six days before Election Day, you can call your county elections office and ask them to send a new ballot. Jump straight to our list of Bay Area county elections offices.

Your county elections office won’t mail you a ballot six days or less before Election Day because it can’t be sure the ballot will reach you in time. So, if you’re trying to get a ballot in the immediate run-up to Election Day, go to your county elections office in person and request one at the counter.

Your county elections office is also open as of Oct. 7 for early voting through Election Day on Nov. 5, so you could also go there and vote in person at the same time. More early voting locations will be opening throughout October.

And remember, if you’re not actually registered to vote or need to re-register to update details like your address or your legal name, you always have the option of Same Day Registration at an open voting location, where you can then fill out and submit your ballot, too.

If your ballot showed up but it has your former name on it

If you’ve legally changed your name since you last voted in California, you’ll need to re-register to vote with your current (new) name.

The deadline to update your voter registration online using the secretary of state’s voter status page was Oct. 21, so now you’ll need to re-register with your new address in person through Same Day Registration (also called “conditional registration”.) You can do this in person right up until when polls close on 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5.

You can re-register to vote at your county elections office during business hours, which is now open for early voting. You can also ask for Same Day Registration at an open voting location near you when many early voting locations open around the Bay Area on Oct. 26. Read more about how to find your closest voting location.

When you do this, your county will cancel the ballot that went to your old address and give you a new one to vote with.

Read more about registering (or re-registering) to vote in person.

How to contact your county directly

Across the Bay Area, elections officials are encouraging voters to reach out — early — with any questions or concerns. Here’s the contact information for your county:

• Alameda: For information about voting by mail, registration and polling place lookup, call 510-267-8683.
• Contra Costa: Call 925-335-7800 or email voter.services@vote.cccounty.us.
• Marin: Call 415-473-6456 or go to the Marin County elections webpage to send a form email.
• Napa: Call 707-253-4321 or email the elections office at elections@countyofnapa.org.
• San Francisco: Call 415-554-4375 or email sfvote@sfgov.org.
• San Mateo: Call 888-762-8683 or email registrar@smcacre.org.
• Santa Clara: Call toll-free at 866-430-VOTE (8683)​ or email registrar@rov.sccgov.org.
• Solano: Call 707-784-6675 or 888-933-VOTE (8683). You can also email elections@solanocounty.com.
• Sonoma: Call 707-565-6800 or toll-free at 800-750-8683.

The state also has a full list of every county elections office in California.

Bookmark the state’s full list of deadlines for the California Presidential Primary Election.

Tell us: What else do you need information about?

At KQED News, we’ve published many guides to voting in California elections. So tell us below: What do you need to know more about when it comes to voting?

You could see your question answered online or on social media. What you submit will make our reporting stronger and help us decide what to cover here on our site and on KQED Public Radio, too.

A version of this story originally published on Oct. 11.