Voting Brief

President Johnson signing the Voting Righs Act with Martin Luther King Jr. in attendance on Aug. 6, 1965. – Courtesy photo

The midterm elections are next Tuesday, Nov. 6. You can cast your vote from 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. at your local polling place. If you find yourself in line when the polls close stay in line; allowing everyone in line when the polls close to vote is the law. If you have selected to vote-by-mail remember that ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by your county elections office no later than three days after Election Day. One last reminder, thanks to the 24^th Amendment your right to vote cannot be impeded by any type of poll tax.

Below are a few resources to help you navigate the voting process:

• If you need to verify that you are registered to vote, check your political party affiliation, check the status of your vote-by-mail ballot, or find your polling place visit VoterStatus.sos.ca.gov.
• If you need to access the complete voter information guide (which includes candidate statements, proposition summaries and the texts of proposed laws) in your preferred language visit VoterGuide.sos.ca.gov.
• If you need to check the status of your provisional ballot visit LAVote.net/pbstatus.
• If you believe that you are a victim of election fraud or have witnessed a criminal violation of the California Elections Code visit bit.ly/VoterComplaint.
• If you want to know more about your rights at the polls visit the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) at bit.ly/KnowYourVotingRights. They also have a guide in Spanish.

Important Polling Place Information: If a voter declares under oath that they are unable to mark a ballot, that voter may receive assistance marking their ballot by two (2) persons of their selection.

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