California Presidential General Election

November 5, 2024
(34th edition)

About This Election

What's on the ballot:  

• Presidential candidates representing six California-qualified political parties
• The office of U.S. Senate will have TWO separate contests on the ballot. You may vote on both. The first contest is the regular election for the full 6-year term of office beginning 1/3/25. The second contest is a "special vacancy election" for the remainder of the term ending on 1/3/25 
• U.S. House of Representatives, State Assembly and odd-numbered State Senate districts
• Ten statewide propositions
• Local contests for county, municipal and special district offices, judges and local measures 
• California registered voters receive in the mail a ballot and return envelope, a state voter information guide and a county voter information guide. Information about the candidates and measures on your ballot is provided in the two guides. It is up to candidates, not election officials, to decide whether to place a statement in the voter guide. 

2024 IN-PERSON VOTING OPTIONS
BY COUNTY

Your voting choices:

• All six state-qualified political parties have a candidate for president on the California ballot. You can vote for any candidate, regardless of party.
• The top two Primary Election vote-getters in legislative and congressional contests will compete against each other in the General Election, and in some cases are members of the same political party. You can vote for any candidate, regardless of party.
• Local contests are nonpartisan; in Primary contests where no candidate received a majority of the vote, the top two vote-getters compete against each other in the General Election.  
• All federal, state and local political district lines were redrawn after the 2020 Census to ensure Californians are equally represented. Visit CalMatters to look up your state and federal districts.

Important Dates:

• September 21:   Deadline for counties to mail ballots to military and overseas voters
• October 7:   Counties must begin mailing vote-by-mail ballots to all registered voters; first day of early voting; all voters may vote in county election offices during business hours
• October 8:  Ballot drop-off locations open in Voter's Choice Act counties
• October 21:  Last day to register to vote in time to receive a ballot in the mail
• October 22 - November 5:  Conditional, "same day" voter registration available at all voting sites and county election offices
• October 26:  11-day vote centers open in Voter's Choice Act counties
• November 2:  4-day vote centers open in Voter's Choice Act counties
• November 5:  Election Day - polling places and vote centers are open statewide 7 am - 8 pm; most but not all drop-off locations are open til 8 pm; ballot returned via US Mail must be postmarked on or before Nov. 5 and received by Nov. 12 to be counted. 
• December 5:  Last day for counties to certify county election results
• December 7:  Last day for the Secretary of State to certify presidential election results
• December 13: Last day for the Secretary of State to certify state election results
• December 17: Electoral College meets and casts final Presidential election votes to be sent to Congress 

Resources

From the California Voter Foundation:

• Voting FAQ

• Contact Your County Election Office

• Online Voter Tools - Check Your Voting Status

• Election 2024 - How You Can Help!

• Vote-by-Mail tips:

From the California Secretary of State:

• General Election Home Page
• Official California Voter Information Guide
• Certified List of Candidates 
• Where's My Ballot? Vote-by-mail ballot tracking service
• Tips for Military and Overseas Voters 
• About the Voter's Choice Act
• Trusted Election Information
• See what Voting Equipment your county uses
• Election Observation Rights and Responsibilities
• Official General Election Calendar
• About Remote Accessible Vote-by-Mail voting
• Early voting and drop-off locations 
• Report election mis- and disinformation to the Office of Election Cybersecurity
• Cal-Access and PowerSearch -  official campaign finance disclosure web site for the State of California 
• Guidance for Military and Overseas Voters 
• Promote the Vote California initiative
• State election regulations for ballot counting, recounts, manual tallies to verify election results, observing elections and more 

From the California Attorney General:

• News Release:  Ahead of General Election, Attorney General Bonta and Secretary of State Weber Remind Californians of Voting Rights and Advise Law Enforcement of Laws to Protect Voters
• Protecting California Voters from Election Interference and Voter Intimidation and Deception (2024)
• Access to Voting for Eligible Persons Under the Supervision of Probation Departments (2022)
• Access to Voting for Eligible Person With a Criminal History or Who are Incarcerated (2022)

CVF recommends these additional nonpartisan voter resources:

• CalMatters and CA State Library 2024 Voter Guide
• League of Women Voters of California's Ballot Measure Pros & Cons, Easy Voter Guide and 411vote.org personalized ballot tool
• Ballotpedia's Sample Ballot Lookup Tool
• KQED's California Voter Guide
• LAist/KPCC's Orange & LA counties' Voter Game Plan 
• CapRadio's Sacramento Voter Guide
• Top Ten Proposition Donors and total amount raised from the Fair Political Practices Commission
• Find your political districts from CalMatters 
• Easy Voter Guide from the League of Women Voters (available in multiple languages)
• Disability Rights California's Your Rights as a Voter with a Disability and Hotline for voters with disabilities: 1-888-569-7955
• Election Protection Hotline: 866-OUR-VOTE
• Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot and Backup Ballot from the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP)
• Make sure your Vote-by-Mail ballot is counted - fact sheet from Asians Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles
• About the California Voter's Choice Act - an alternative  "vote center" voting model adopted in 29 counties
• Verified Voting:  California voting systems and California recount laws

Archived editions of CVF's California Online Voter Guide:

• March 2024 Presidential Primary Election
• November 2022 Statewide General Election
• June 2022 Statewide Primary Election
• September 2021 Statewide Recall Election
• November 2020 Presidential General Election
• March 2020 Presidential Primary Election 
• November 2018 General Election
• 1994 - Primary 2018, plus other archived election resources are accessible via CVF's Archived Elections page