Are you election ready? Review our voter info and recommendations

Vote Safe California & Make Sure Your Ballot Counts!

Because of COVID-19, all registered voters in California will receive a vote-by-mail ballot (return postage paid) for the 3 November 2020 elections. These ballots will be sent out on 5 October.


Worried about mailing your ballot back? This year, in California, if your ballot is received by the 17th day after the election, and postmarked on or before 3 November, by it will be processed. (See California AB-860.) Instead of mailing their ballot back, Alameda County voters can do one of the following:

  • Return their vote-by-mail ballot to any one of 66 secure drop boxes located in Alameda County. Ballots will be picked up directly by the Registrar of Voters. Find an Alameda County vote-by-mail drop box here. City of Alameda locations are at City Hall and the College of Alameda.

  • Return their vote-by-mail ballot via a drive through Ballot Drop Stop. Locations and hours to be announced soon.  

  • Vote in-person at any accessible voting location in Alameda County. These will replace neighborhood polling places, and there will be 60 to 100 of these in our county. They will be open for early voting from Saturday, 31 October through Monday, 2 November, and hours of operation will be 8am to 6pm. On Election Day, Tuesday, 3 November, the hours of operation at these accessible voting locations will be 6am to 9pm. Locations TBD, and will be announced at acvote.org.  

Make sure your ballot/vote is counted! Here's how:
  • Follow the directions that come with your ballot. In general, do not choose more candidates than allowed for a race, and ensure that you mark your ballot correctly.  
  • If you do make a mistake marking your ballot, call your Registrar of Voters for a replacement. Alameda County voters may call their ROV at (510) 267-8683.
  • Complete both sides of a two-sided ballot card, and place your ballot in the return envelope provided.
  • Remember to sign and write your address on the return envelope.
  • To authorize another person to return your ballot, fill out the appropriate section on the return envelope.
  • Return your ballot early OR return your un-voted ballot to election officials at an Alameda County accessible voting location, and vote a regular ballot.
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Get more vote-by-mail FAQs and answers at acvote.org.

Prepare for Election Day

​​It can be hard for busy citizens to keep up with candidates and issues during election cycles. Here you can review LWV of Alameda's voter information and recommendations to help you get election ready. See our California Voter FAQs & How to Vote Section and our California Voter Resources Section below. 
The best and easiest way to prepare yourself for Election Day is the Easy Voter Guide from the League of Women Voters. Use it to review the process of voting, what you should know, and what you will be voting on. This is a critical voting year, so you will want to be prepared to register (if you have not yet registered, or if you have moved or changed your name) and vote. The guide is very informative and concise, and is published in multiple languages.

Another way to prepare yourself for Election Day is to visit the Voter's Edge California website, where you can find your assigned polling place, and see who and what is on your ballot, and more.
If you do not find an answer here to your voting or election question here, please contact us at LWV of Alameda. We are here to help you be a California voter. Please note the information presented is, in some cases, specifically for Alameda County voters.

California Voter FAQs
​& How to Vote Steps

Ways to Vote
Make a plan now on how you will cast your vote.
​
  1. Decide if you need to vote early: either in-person, by mail, or absentee.​
  2. If you do vote by mail, check your ballot status.
  3. If you will vote on Election Day, find your polling place. 

California Voter Resources

Alameda County
​Registrar of Voters
The Alameda County Registrar of Voters (ROV) is the county elections office for Alameda County. On their website, Alameda County voters can apply to vote by mail, find early voting hours at the ROV, update their voter profile, see election results, and more.

Alameda County voters with disabilities can find remote accessible vote by mail ballot delivery, and other options to ensure they can vote. 

The Alameda County ROV is located at 1225 Fallon Street, Room G-1, Oakland CA.​

Easy Voter Guide
The Easy Voter Guide is a newsprint pamphlet for new voters and busy voters. Its aim is to make nonpartisan information about the ballot accessible to as many Californians as possible. Find helpful information about ballot measures, propositions and candidates in this guide. 

It is distributed by the League of Women Voters of Alameda to 34 locations in Alameda, including libraries, schools, churches, and senior centers.

The California Easy Voter Guide (for the 3 November 2020 Elections) will be available for download in multiple languages on 4 September 2020.

Secretary of State
Are you registered to vote? Do you want to change your party, your address, or your name? Visit the California Secretary of State's website on Elections & Voting to learn about how to register to vote, deadlines, requirements, political parties, voting overseas, and more.

Voter's Edge
Like Smart Voter did in the past, Voter's Edge California provides unbiased, in-depth voting information on candidates and ballot measures. Additionally, you can enter your address to find your assigned polling place.

​It also has campaign funding info and a high quality Spanish translation to State and Federal races. Additionally, you can find all of your trusted League Voter Service publications on Voter's Edge California, including our Pros & Cons and Easy Voter Guide.

Youth Voter Guide
This guide is meant for Californians aged 16 or 17 years of age. You can pre-register to vote online, and be automatically registered to vote in your first election at age 18. 
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  1. Review the Our Time is Now video on pre-registering to vote.
  2. Then pre-register to vote in California online.
  3. Get your specific ballot and see data on candidates at Voter's Edge.
  4. Learn about election issues with our Easy Voter Guide.
  5. See a short video on the California Voter Bill of Rights.
  6. Invite your friends and family to vote.