Qualifications to Register to Vote
To register to vote in California, you must be:
Qualifications to Pre-register to Vote
To pre-register to vote in California, you must:
How To Fill Out A Registration Form
If you did not register to vote by the 15-day voter registration deadline, in most elections, you may conditionally register to vote and cast a provisional ballot by visiting your county elections office, a vote center, or a designated satellite location during the period of 14 days prior to, and including, Election Day.
Once your county elections official processes your affidavit of registration, determines your eligibility to register, and validates your information, your registration becomes permanent and your provisional ballot will be counted. For more information, please refer to Same Day Voter Registration.
In order to change your political party preference, you must re-register to vote. You can re-register to vote by completing a voter registration application online at RegisterToVote.ca.gov. When you register online, the system will search the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) database for your California driver license or identification card number, date of birth, and last four digits of your social security number. If your information is found and you authorize elections officials' use of your DMV signature, an electronic image of your DMV signature will be added to your voter registration application after you click "submit" at the end of the online application. If there is no signature on file with DMV, all of your information will be transmitted to your county elections office; you will just need to click "print," sign the paper application, and mail it. Your county elections official will contact you when your voter registration application is approved or if more information is needed to confirm your eligibility.
You can also pick up a paper application at your county elections office, any Department of Motor Vehicles field office, and many post offices, public libraries, and government offices. To have an application mailed to you, call your county elections office or the Secretary of State’s toll-free Voter Hotline at (800) 345-VOTE (8683).
All Californians who are eligible to vote may fill out an online voter registration application at RegisterToVote.ca.gov. California military and overseas voters may also use RegisterToVote.ca.gov to fill out an application and request a special absentee ballot. If you do not have a California driver license or identification card number, but you enter your other information, the website will create a pre-filled voter registration application for you to print, sign, and mail. All of your information will be sent directly to your county elections office so that when your signed application arrives in the mail, the county elections staff will simply add your signature to your voter registration record.
Yes. California military and overseas voters may also use RegisterToVote.ca.gov to fill out a voter registration application and request a special absentee ballot. When filling out an application to register as a special absentee voter, you can choose to have your ballot mailed, faxed, or emailed to you.
No. The online voter registration application is an easy avenue for submitting your information, but the information you provide in your online application still must be verified by your county elections official. If you have a California driver license or identification card and submit an online voter registration application, the Department of Motor Vehicles is simply sharing a copy of your signature on file so that it can be transferred to your voter registration record. No matter how you turn in your registration application – online or paper – when it comes to determining a person's eligibility to vote, preventing duplicate registrations, and adding a person to California's official voter rolls, all the same safeguards are in place. Your county elections official will contact you when your voter registration application is approved or if more information is needed to confirm your eligibility.
Yes. The California Secretary of State's online application is available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese. Paper applications are also available in those same languages. To have an application mailed to you, call your county elections office or the Secretary of State's toll-free Voter Hotline at (800) 345-VOTE (8683).
No. For security reasons, California law prohibits casting a ballot over the Internet. This also means that county elections officials cannot accept marked ballots sent via email. If you are a military and overseas voter, as defined by the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, you may return your voted ballot to your county elections office only by mail or fax (in certain limited circumstances).
To find out if you are currently registered to vote, please refer to My Voter Status.
In general, you do not need to re-register because you are registered to vote for as long as you remain at the same address. However, there are cases in which voter registration can be cancelled if a voter has not voted in several consecutive general elections.
Your voter registration record should always reflect your current residence. If your move is permanent, you can update your California residence address by re-registering online or by submitting a paper voter registration application.
You can also send a signed letter to your current county elections official, informing them of your move and providing them with your date of birth and current address, even if it is in a different county. However, if you have already updated your residence address at the Department of Motor Vehicles or the U.S. Postal Service, your registration will be automatically updated with your new address. If your move is temporary, you can continue to use your prior permanent residence where you were registered to vote as your address for the purpose of voting.
If you have legally changed your name, you must re-register to vote so that your voter record reflects your current name. The Secretary of State recommends that before you update your voter record with your current name, you first update your California driver license or identification card with DMV.
If you are re-registering online and you have not updated your DMV record with your new name, select "decline" on the application when asked to use your DMV signature to register to vote. If you do not decline use of your DMV signature, your application will be rejected by your county elections official because your DMV signature for your prior name will not match your voter signature with your new name. After you decline to use your DMV signature, continue filling in your information. Print, sign, and mail the paper application to your county elections office.
The deadline to register to vote is 15 days prior to Election Day, often called E-15. You must submit the voter registration application by midnight on the registration deadline day. A timestamp will be attached to your online voter registration application. If you register to vote using a paper application, it must be postmarked or hand-delivered to your county elections office by E-15. After the registration deadline, in most elections any individual may conditionally register to vote and cast a provisional ballot by visiting their county elections official. For more information, please refer to Same Day Voter Registration.
Yes, you must submit the voter registration application online by midnight on the registration deadline day. However, in most elections you may go in person to your county elections office during the 14 days immediately following the registration deadline to conditionally register to vote and vote a provisional ballot. For more information please go to. If you do not conditionally register to vote, your voter registration application will still be processed and, if it is approved, you will be able to vote in future elections.
In most elections, during the period of 14 days prior to Election Day and including Election Day, an individual can go to the office of their county elections official to conditionally register to vote and vote a provisional ballot. For more information, please refer to Same Day Voter Registration.
You may check the status of your voter registration by visiting My Voter Status or by contacting your county elections official.
Give your county elections official any documentation you have to help establish when and where you submitted your voter registration application, such as a receipt with a tracking number or timestamp, or whether you were previously registered to vote elsewhere.
If you are currently registered to vote in California and would like to cancel your voter registration, you can complete the California Voter Registration Cancellation Request Form (PDF) and submit it to your county elections office. If you have any questions, you can contact your county elections office or the Secretary of State's Voter Hotline at (800) 345-VOTE (8683).
California Voter Registration Cancellation Request Form (PDF)
