🗳️ How To Vote: a Escondido Voting Guide

🗳️ How To Vote: a Escondido Voting Guide

Short Version

Who is Eligible to Vote?

To be eligible to vote in California, the Secretary of State stated that a person must be:

  • A United States citizen and a resident of California,
  • 18 years old or older on Election Day,
  • Not currently in state or federal prison or on parole for the conviction of a felony (for more information on the rights of people who have been incarcerated, please see the Secretary of State’s Voting Rights: Persons with a Criminal History), and
  • Not currently found mentally incompetent to vote by a court (for more information, please see Voting Rights: Persons Subject to Conservatorship).

For persons with a criminal history, use the Secretary of State‘s simple tool Restore Your Vote to determine if you are eligible as noted in Voting Rights: Persons with a Criminal History.

Why Vote?

To effect changes at the local, regional, state and federal level! For examples:

  • The then-city council in Escondido in 2011 closed our East Branch Public Library and in 2017 outsourced our Main Public Library by a 4-1 vote. One councilmember who voted in favor of both actions had narrowly won re-election in 2014 by 1.09% (69 votes!). Imagine the impact of one or two more votes to prevent the outsourcing of our library!

  • A former U.S. congress representative in our former District 50 was found to misuse campaign funds in 2016, refused to resign and instead continued to run for reelection in 2016 and 2018. He was eventually barred from being in any House committees after being indicted with criminal charges in 2018 and from voting on any legislations after pleading guilty to misusing campaign funds in 2019 before he had to resigned in January 2020. He had narrowly won re-election in 2018 by 3% (5,867 votes). Imagine having an actual voice — actual representation — in Congress!

How Do I Register to Vote?

Watch San Diego Registrar of Voters‘ Registering to Vote Video:

Questions about voter registration can be directed at San Diego Registrar of Voters.

Other non-profit and non-partisan organizations who help with voter registration include Rock the Vote and When You Vote, and you can always reach out to your local or regional Indivisible groups or Democratic clubs (e.g. Escondido Democratic Club and San Diego County Democratic Party) who often run voter registration drives during Election seasons.

How Do I Know If I’m Registered to Vote?

Once you’re registered to vote, the San Diego Registrar of Voters will mail you a postcard confirming your voter registration information. You can also check your registration at San Diego Registrar of Voters‘s website: sdvote.com then ‘Check Your Registration’. It’s a good idea to check your voter registration periodically, especially in an Election year, in case you are mistakenly removed from the voter roll.

What Will I Be Voting On? And How I Do Choose What to Vote For?

Generally, 30 days before Election Day, an official voter information guide and sample ballot will be mailed to registered voters in San Diego by San Diego Registrar of Voters. The official voter information guide and sample ballot will list and provide information about the elected official races and ballot measures for which you’ll be voting.

Watch San Diego Registrar of Voters‘ Sample Ballot Video:

However, you can generally find information beforehand. Typically:

  • You’ll be voting for a President every four years on 2024, 2028, 2032, etc.
  • You’ll be voting for a State Governor every four years on 2026, 2030, 2034, etc.
  • You’ll be voting for a U.S. House of Representative and a California State Assemblymember every two years on 2022, 2024, 2026, etc.
  • So in generally, you’ll be voting every two years with a Presidential Election and a Gubernatorial Election (also known as Midterms) switching every two years.
  • Each election will also have a Primary Election where you’ll be voting for candidates who will move forward in General Election in November (Primary Election may also have local ballot measures as well).
  • You can find which districts you are in when you check your registration online or use this Find Your District online tool. Finding your district will allow you to determine early which elected official races are applicable for you.

Then to decide on how you want to vote, there are multiple ways to learn about your elected official races and ballot measures:

If you still don’t know which candidate or position for a specific race or ballot measure for which to vote, you have the option to abstain from voting on that specific race or ballot measure. For an elected official race, this is not advisable, because sometimes you have to vote against the worser outcome: e.g., Trump with his more than a thousand cruelties, collusions, corruptions, and crimes or another candidate who have not been impeached twice for interfering with an election and inciting an insurrection.

When and How Do I Vote?

Election Day is the first Tuesday after November 1 (this year, it will be November 5, 2024).

As mentioned, generally, 30 days before Election Day, an official voter information guide and sample ballot will be mailed to registered voters in San Diego by San Diego Registrar of Voters.

Here is an example of a sample ballot from 2016 San Diego City Primary Election. The sample ballot will contain voting instructions on how to fill your paper ballot or electronic ballot if you’re at a polling location that uses electronic voting machine, but generally:

  • For a paper ballot, use a blue or black pen and completely fill in the oval. If you make a mistake on the official paper ballot, you’ll need to ask for a replacement ballot so this is one of the reasons why filling a sample ballot beforehand is a good idea.
  • Do not vote for more than the number allowed. For example, some elected official races will be “vote for no more than one” while others will be “vote for no more than three”.
  • Don’t share your official completed ballot (e.g. photographing your ballot and sharing it on social media)! Keep your official ballot secret and confidential.

Early voting starts on the 29th day before Election Day to the Election Day itself:

How Do I Know If My Ballot Was Counted?

If you vote by mail or provisionally, you can check your ballot receipt at Check Your Registration and Where’s Your Ballot or by contacting San Diego Registrar of Voters. Your ballot may be rejected, for example, if your signatures mismatched, and the San Diego Registrar of Voters should contact you in that case.

Lastly, check the Escondido City Clerk Office, San Diego Registrar of Voters and California Secretary of State for the most up-to-date official information on elections for Escondido residents:

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