Election day is Tuesday, November 3, 2020. All of California's registered voters will be mailed a ballot starting 29 days prior to Election Day (October 5, 2020). Ensure that your mailing address is up-to-date through OC Vote. To check the status of your ballot, please visit OC Vote.

Early voting and in-person voting locations will also be available to voters. A list will be included in your Voter Information Guide and online at ocvote.com/votecenter starting in late September.

California offers voter registration online, by mail, and in person.  

Online voter registration is available at California Register to Vote website 

Mail   You can also request and complete a paper voter registration form and mail or hand deliver it to your county elections official to register to vote.  The deadline to register to vote is October 19, 2020. If you miss the deadline, you must register to vote in-person at either the OC Registrar of Voters’ office in Santa Ana or at any Vote Center. 

Call the OC Registrar of Voters at 714-567-7600 to request a paper registration form. 

Confirm your voter registration status at California Register to Vote website 

Requirements to register to vote:

To register in California you must: 

• be a United States citizen 

• be a resident of California 

• be at least 18 years old or older on Election Day 

• not currently in state or federal prison or on parole for the conviction of a felony 

• not currently found to be mentally incompetent to vote by a court 

• 16 and 17 years olds:  Pre-register to vote at the California Register to Vote website or with a paper voter registration form. 

Online voter registration: 

• California offers online voter registration at the California Register to Vote website 

• You will need a California-issued driver license or California identification card number, the last four digits of your social security number, and consent to the use of your DMV-stored digital signature to use California's online voter registration system. If you don't have a California-issued ID or don't want to provide consent for the use of your digital signature, you can still register by mail to vote. 

• You can register online to vote until Monday, October 19, 2020. 

Vote-by-Mail voter registration: 

Use the California voter registration form 

You can also register to vote using the California voter registration form. You may also request one be mailed to you by the Registrar of Voters – call (714) 567-7600 for more information. 

Be sure to read the instructions carefully and fill it out completely. To register by mail, the form must be postmarked by Monday, October 19. Send the completed form to Orange County Registrar of Voters:  

Neal Kelley, Registrar Voters                                                                                                                                    

P.O. Box 11298                                                                                                                                                        

Santa Ana, CA 92711  

Vote by Mail 

All registered voters will be sent a vote-by-mail ballot for the November 3, 2020 General Election. Registered voters do not have to apply for a vote-by-mail ballot for this election. 

1. Fill out your ballot. 

2. After you have voted, insert your ballot in the envelope provided, making sure you provide your signature and complete all required information on the envelope. 

3. You may return your voted ballot  

• by mail, it must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by your county elections office no later than 17 days after Election Day. 

•  in person at a Vote Center or dropping it in a ballot drop box, it must be delivered no later than the close of polls at 8:00 p.m. on November 3rd. A list of drop boxes and locations can be found online at OC Vote 

• Anyone may return your ballot for you, as long as they do not get paid on a per ballot basis. In order for your ballot to be counted, you must fill out the authorization section found on the outside of your return envelope. 

Vote in Person

Vote on election day: 

All registered voters in California will receive a ballot by mail. However, in-person voting locations will be available to voters. You can now vote at any Orange County Vote Center. In-person voting locations may be found online by visiting the Vote Anywhere site. 

Vote early: 

California voters can also vote before Election Day. The early voting period runs from Monday, October 5, 2020 to Monday, November 2, 2020, but dates and hours may vary based on where you live. Early voting and vote-by-mail ballot drop off locations may be found on the Secretary of State's Early Voting website. 

In Orange County, all Vote Centers will be open for 4 days of early voting leading up to and on Election Day. 

Vote Center Hours of Operation 

What to bring: 

• If you've voted in California before, you don't need to show ID. 

• If you're a first-time voter who registered by mail, and didn't include your driver's license number, California ID number, or the last 4 digits of your Social Security number on your registration, you may be asked to provide proof of residence when you vote. Acceptable forms include:  

  • copy of a recent utility bill,  

  • the sample ballot booklet you received from your county elections office or another document sent to you by a government agency,  

  • a US passport,  

  • driver license,  

  • official state identification card,  student identification card showing your name and photograph. 

• Voters without ID: If you are unable to provide an ID, you will be able to vote a provisional ballot. 

OC Vote full election calendar 

September 24, 2020 - Mailing of Voter Information guides (approximate date) 

October 5, 2020 - First day Vote-by-Mail ballots are available and ballot drop boxes open 

October 5, 2020 - 29 Day Close of Registration 

October 19, 2020 - Final Close of Registration 

October 20 – November 3, 2020 - Conditional Voter Registration period 

October 30, 2020 - Vote Centers open 

November 3, 2020 - Date of Election 

U.S. PRESIDENT / VICE PRESIDENT

(listed alphabetically) 

DEMOCRATIC PARTY 

Joe Biden/Kamala Harris    Campaign Website 

GREEN PARTY 

Howie Hawkins/Angela Nicole Walker  Campaign Website 

LIBERTARIAN PARTY 

Jo Jorgensen/Spike Cohen  Campaign Website 

REPUBLICAN PARTY 

Donald J. Trump/Mike Pence    Campaign Website 

STATE AND LOCAL CANDIDATES AND LOCAL MEASURES

View all state and local elections at OC Vote 

STATE PROPOSITIONS

Find qualified State Propositions here at the  California Secretary of State website 

VOTER INFORMATION GUIDE AND SAMPLE BALLOT

View your Voter Information Guide and sample ballot here at OC Vote 

Campaign Finance Disclosures are mandated by law.  

Federal, state, and local sites are provided below. 

Federal Election Commission  Official United States Government website that tracks campaign finance and donations. 

California Campaign Finance Disclosures  The Secretary of State site offers searching options to research finance and donations. 

OC Campaign Finance and Disclosure  Through the OC Registrar of Voters, this site provides searching by candidate, measure, or committee. 

Community Engagement 

OC Vote  provides community engagement events to discuss election operations, voter registrations, voter data and more.  Also, Bilingual Outreach and Speaker Requests may be found here. 

Newspaper and Magazine Coverage 

Access election coverage through local and national newspapers and magazines, all available on OC Public Libraries website under  Magazines, Newspapers, and Current Events  Enter your library card number to read the OC Register, New York Times, and hundreds of magazines. 

OC Registrar of Voters employment opportunities

Want to help?  Consider becoming a Customer Service Representative with the OC Registrar of Voters .  More information is found at  OC Vote

Confirm the accuracy of election information using these non-partisan websites. 

Center for Public Integrity  A well documented investigative journalism organization and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2014 & 2017. 

FactCheck.org   A Project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, this site monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. 

Newsguard- Ratings for over 5,800 news sites that account for 95% of online engagement for news.  Get warnings on new misleading information as well as accuracy of news sites.