Cara Brown McCormick
California has created one of the most voter-friendly election systems in the nation. Three distinct policies work together to make that possible: a codified set of voter protections, a modernized election model that gives voters more ways to participate, and a primary system that opens every race to every voter.
None of them favors one party over another. All of them shift power toward the individual voter.
The California Voter Bill of Rights
The California Voter Bill of Rights is rooted in the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.
AB177, introduced by Assembly Member Jenny Oropeza, was enacted as Chapter 425, Statutes of 2003. This landmark legislation consolidated existing voter protections into a single framework.
The current plain-language version most people are familiar with has a more recent origin: SB505 was signed by Governor Jerry Brown on September 1, 2015.
California spells out exactly what every registered voter is entitled to, and the protections extend beyond what most people realize.
To be eligible, you must be a U.S. citizen living in California, at least 18 years old, registered at your current address, not currently serving a state or federal prison sentence for a felony conviction, and not found by a court to be mentally incompetent to vote.
On election day, showing up to find your name missing from the rolls is not the end of the road. You can cast a provisional ballot, which will be counted if officials confirm your eligibility. If you are still in line when the polls close, you have the right to vote.
Your ballot is private; no one can tell you how to mark it, and if you make an error before submitting, you can ask for a new one. You are also entitled to bring someone along to help, as long as it is not your employer or union representative.
Beyond the polls, a completed vote-by-mail ballot can be dropped off at any polling location in the state. Where enough residents of a precinct speak a language other than English, election materials must be made available in that language.
You have the right to ask elections officials how the process works, to watch it unfold, and to report anything suspicious directly to an elections official or the secretary of state's office.
The California Voter's Choice Act
Signed into law in 2016 under SB 450, the Voter's Choice Act turns ten this year. It is a county opt-in program, meaning counties choose whether to adopt its election model, but those that do commit to a significantly expanded approach to running elections, one centered on giving voters more days, more locations, and more ways to participate.
The League of Women Voters has noted that the VCA is aimed not just at increasing overall turnout but specifically at narrowing the participation gap for historically underrepresented voters.
Adoption has grown steadily since the law took effect. In 2018, Madera, Napa, Nevada, Sacramento, and San Mateo counties became the first cohort to implement the model.
In 2020, they were joined by Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Orange, Santa Clara, and Tuolumne.
In 2022, Alameda, Kings, Marin, Merced, Riverside, San Benito, San Diego, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Ventura, and Yolo counties made the transition, followed by Humboldt and Placer in 2023.
Imperial County is implementing the VCA in 2026 ahead of the June primary election, bringing the total to thirty counties.
The model rests on three pillars. Every active registered voter in a participating county receives a ballot in the mail 28 days before Election Day and can return it by mail, at a drop box, or at a vote center.
Vote centers replace the traditional single assigned polling place: any voter in the county can walk into any vote center, cast a ballot in person, drop off a completed ballot, pick up a replacement, use an accessible voting machine, get materials in another language, or update their voter registration on the spot.
Vote centers are located near public transportation and are typically open for up to 10 days before Election Day. Drop boxes must be secure, accessible to voters with disabilities, and located near transit, with at least one available for every 15,000 registered voters in the county.
Counties adopting the VCA are also required to develop an Election Administration Plan through a public process that includes hearings and community workshops. The plan must detail how the county will run its elections and reach voters, and must be translated into every language designated for that county by the secretary of state.
The secretary of state is required by law to review each plan and approve, reject, or conditionally approve its education and outreach provisions, and to make all plans publicly available.
A 2024 Primary Election Report on the Voter’s Choice Act published by the California secretary of state stated that nearly 90 percent of voters in VCA counties used mail-in or drop-off voting, with 43 percent returning ballots by mail and 46 percent using drop boxes. In-person voting at vote centers accounted for 26 percent of turnout in VCA counties.
The Nonpartisan Top Two Primary
Before 2012, California's primary elections were effectively controlled by the two major political parties. Each party held its own primary, and only registered members could vote, which meant the candidates who advanced to November were largely chosen by the most partisan voters in each party. Candidates had little incentive to appeal to voters outside their partisan base.
California voters changed that in 2010 by approving the nonpartisan Top Two primary system under Proposition 14, authored by the Independent Voter Project. The Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act took effect January 1, 2011, and created "voter-nominated" offices.
Independent Voter Project
Under this model, every candidate for a given office appears on a single ballot, and every voter casts a ballot in the same election regardless of party affiliation. The two candidates with the most votes advance to the general election, full stop.
The result is a system where no voter is locked out of any race at any stage, and where winning candidates must build support beyond a narrow partisan base.
California is one of just three states that allows its voters to participate at every stage of the election process. However, Republican and Democratic operative are now trying to repeal this system and return to a process that locks out independent voters.
Shawn Griffiths
