Practical Information for Chinese Americans in the U.S. (Issue 1): California General Election Voting Is Underway — How Voters Can Cast Their Ballots
Tuesday, November 3 is California's General Election Day. Vote-by-mail ballots have already been mailed and vote centers are already open — voting is underway. This guide covers procedure only: who can vote, key dates, how to return a ballot, what to do if you are not yet registered, and where to check your own information. It makes no candidate recommendations; for candidate information, see the Official Voter Information Guide.
1. Who can vote
A California voter must be a U.S. citizen, a California resident, and 18 years old or older on Election Day; must not currently be serving a state or federal prison term for a felony conviction; and must not have been found mentally incompetent to vote by a court. Eligible voters who are registered may vote.
2. Key dates (2026)
- Regular registration deadline: Monday, October 19 — already passed.
- Conditional voter registration (same-day registration): October 20 through November 3. Voters who missed the regular deadline can still register and vote; see Section 4.
- Vote-by-mail ballots: county elections officials began mailing them to all active registered voters in early October. No separate application is needed, and the return envelope is postage-paid.
- Election Day: November 3. Polls are open statewide from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
- Mailed ballots count if postmarked on or before November 3 and received by the county elections office by November 10.
- Ballots returned in person or to a drop box must be submitted by 8:00 p.m. on November 3.
3. Four steps to cast a ballot
Step 1 — Mark it. Follow the instructions on your ballot. Ballot contents vary by county and district; go by the ballot you received and your county voter guide.
Step 2 — Seal it. Place the voted ballot in the return envelope provided by your county elections office and seal it.
Step 3 — Sign it. Sign the outside of the return envelope. Your signature must match the one on your driver's license or the one you provided when registering; the county elections office compares signatures before counting the ballot.
Step 4 — Return it, by any one of three ways:
1. By mail: mail it as early as possible; the Secretary of State recommends at least 7 days before Election Day. If you mail it on Election Day, take it inside a U.S. Post Office and ask a postal employee for a hand-stamped postmark so the postmark date is not delayed.
2. By drop box: deposit it in an official ballot drop box in your county, available until 8:00 p.m. on November 3.
3. In person: deliver it by 8:00 p.m. on November 3 to a polling place, vote center, or county elections office; you may also vote in person at a vote center. Voting locations offer registration, replacement ballots, accessible voting machines, and language assistance.
After returning your ballot, you can track it through the Secretary of State's "Where's My Ballot" service, which sends updates by text message, email, or voice call as your ballot is mailed, received, and counted.
4. Not registered yet?
The regular deadline has passed, but California offers conditional voter registration from October 20 through November 3. Eligible voters may go to their county elections office, a vote center, or a polling place, register conditionally, and cast a provisional ballot on the spot; the ballot is counted after officials verify eligibility and confirm you have not voted elsewhere. Vote centers in Los Angeles County also handle conditional registration.
5. Where to check your own information
- Registration status: the Secretary of State's My Voter Status tool, which also lets you check your registered address, party preference, and language preference.
- Polling places and drop boxes: the Secretary of State's early voting lookup page, or the voter hotline.
- Ballot contents: go by your county voter guide and sample ballot. The statewide Official Voter Information Guide is available in Chinese, and a Chinese-language hotline can provide copies.
- Los Angeles County: according to the county elections office, the first 123 vote centers opened on October 24 (daily 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. through November 2); 523 more open on October 31, for a countywide total of 646, all open 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Election Day. The county also has 429 official ballot drop boxes. Voters may use any vote center in the county regardless of where they live.
6. What is on the ballot
Statewide offices include Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Controller, Insurance Commissioner, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and members of the State Board of Equalization, as well as U.S. House and state legislative seats; there are also statewide propositions and local measures and offices. This guide lists no candidate names and makes no comparisons or recommendations; candidate statements and proposition details are in the statewide Official Voter Information Guide and your county voter guide.
All information in this guide comes from public materials of the California Secretary of State and county elections officials; if anything changes, the latest official notice governs.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：加利福尼亚州圣华金县的官方选票投递箱，选民可将填好的邮寄选票投入箱内交回。照片：TaurusEmerald，CC BY-SA 4.0，经维基共享资源。 / An official ballot drop box in San Joaquin County, California, where voters can return their completed vote-by-mail ballots. Photo: TaurusEmerald, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
