With the November 6 general election fast approaching, we wanted to share some voter and election resources. For information about upcoming voter events at the library, check out our voter information page.
Voting Information
- The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's office administers elections in Los Angeles County. Start here for basic information such as voter registration status, sample ballot, and polling places.
- The last day to register to vote in California is October 22, 2018, or fifteen days before election day. People must have their voter registration card postmarked by that day, or sign up online. If someone has already registered but their information has changed, e.g. name, address, political party etc., they must submit a voter registration card with the updated information.
- If registered voters have forgotten to update their voting information, and/or are not able to vote at their designated polling place, they can cast a provisional ballot at another polling place. LA Vote has more information on provisional voting.
- If citizens have missed the October 22 voter registration deadline, they can still register and vote under the Conditional Voter Registration program. Starting October 23 through the November 6 election day, citizens can visit their county election headquarters to sign up and vote. Their ballot will be processed after election officials have verified the applicant's information. In Los Angeles County, that means prospective voters who missed the October 22 deadline will have to visit the Norwalk headquarters or designated weekend early voting centers. They will not be able to vote at a neighborhood polling place.
- Early voting began 29 days before Election Day, which started back on October 8. At this time, voters can visit the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's headquarters to vote during the week during business hours. There are ten early weekend voting locations throughout Los Angeles County. The weekend early voting locations will be open on October 27-28 and November 3-4 from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Conditional voting registration will be available at these locations.
Election Information
- California Official Voter Information Guide has a lot of helpful information. Here you will find links to the candidates, statewide ballot propositions, text of proposed laws, and important election dates and information. Central Library has two paper copies of the Official Voter Information Guide, and the Text of Proposed Laws for review at the librarian's reference desk in the Social Science, Philosophy & Religion Department location on Lower Level 3.
- California’s Official Voter Information Guide is also available online in American Sign Language and in audio format. The Central Library’s Social Science, Philosophy & Religion Department has received one audio CD copy of the Voter Guide, which will be held at the librarian's reference desk. For Los Angeles County, the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's office also lists contact information for voters with specific needs. Additional information for special needs voters can be found at LA Vote, and through the city clerk's office for voters within the City of Los Angeles looking for Multilingual Election Services.
- For information on local city measures, voters will have to: (a) consult their sample ballot, (b) wait for an additional voting guide to be mailed to them by their City Clerk's Election office, and (c) check their local City Clerk's website. For example, there are three City of Los Angeles measures on the November 6 ballot: Measure B, Measure E, and Measure EE.—The sample ballot for an L.A. city resident shows that the L.A. City Clerk's office will mail out additional information on these three measures.
- The November 6 election is the showdown between the top two vote-getters from the June primary election. Read more about the top-two primary system on the Secretary of State site. It explains that the top two vote-getters move on to the November 6 general election, even if one of the candidates received over 50% of the vote in the primary election, and regardless of political party affiliation. The top-two primary system does not apply to local offices, e.g. county or city offices. For these city and county elections, if a candidate received over 50% of the vote in the primary, then they won their election. If a local candidate did not receive over 50% of the vote, then the top two vote-getters will appear on the November ballot.
- The Los Angeles County Bar Association publishes their evaluations of each candidate for Superior Court Judge in time for the primary election. Some of the Superior Court judge races were decided in the primary election; only Office numbers 4, 16, 60 and 113 appear on the November 6 ballot.
Election Results
- For statewide election results of state and federal offices and propositions, visit the California Secretary of State's webpage. For a quick overview of past election results, click on the desired election, then look under the section “Vote Summaries” for Statement of Vote Summary Pages.
- To see election results for elections administered by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's office, LA Vote's election page. Click on the desired election for a nice graphical bar chart display of elections results.
Campaign Finance Information
For those who wish to review campaign finance data to see who is contributing to whom.
- Federal elections: You can search by candidate or committee name, or search for contributions from specific individuals. You can also type in your zip code to look at campaign finance data for candidates running for office in your neighborhood.
- California state campaign finance data: Use the basic search to click through to the desired candidate or ballot measure. Use the PowerSearch option to search by candidate, proposition, or contributor. The results page displays a downloadable spreadsheet of all the contributors to a candidate or ballot proposition.
- Local area campaign finance: This webpage provides links to known campaign finance websites for cities and counties throughout California.
- SuperPACs and other "dark money" spending: This website is run by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Finally
- SmartVoter is a useful site for searching for California ballot information. The election archive goes back about twenty years to 1997.
- Use the site Ballotpedia for information on American politics, government, elections, and public policy. This is a good place to find information on past elections and election results going back to the early 2000s. The site is searchable by keyword or from the subject index. For local election results and info, search for "Los Angeles County", wait for the drop-down list to populate with suggestions, then choose either "Los Angeles County" or "Los Angeles County ballot measures".