Voter registration in California is easy. You don’t even need to use paper. Eligible voters can register online in less than fifteen minutes.
The last day to register in California is Oct. 21 — 15 days before the general election.
To vote, you must be:
- A United States citizen
- A resident of California
- 18 years old or older on Election Day
- Not currently serving a state or federal prison term for the conviction of a felony
- Not currently found mentally incompetent to vote by a court
Some information you will want to have — but don’t necessarily need right now — is:
- Driver license or ID card number
- The last four digits of your social security number
- An address
In most cases, a California voter is not required to show identification before casting a ballot, even if they do not provide an ID card number or SSN upon registration.
However, according to the California Secretary of State voter resource guide, there is a chance voters may be required to show identification before entering the polling booth.
These are examples of recommended forms of identification, which you should bring at least one of to the polls if you don’t have access to your ID number or SSN:
- Recent utility bill with your name on it
- The sample ballot booklet you receive from your county elections office
- A document sent to you by a government agency
- Passport
- Student ID with name and photo
A complete list of other accepted identification is available here.
If you are not yet 18, you can pre-register to vote so that you’re automatically registered when you turn 18.
If you have changed addresses since the last time you voted, you need to re-register.
If you are unable to register online, information on in-person or mail voter registration is available here.
Anthony Vasek can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected].
