Sonoma State University

Registering to Vote

This information was prepared especially for students in order to provide them with important information about registration and voting, including key deadlines. It is based on information from the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters and California Secretary of State's offices.

Requirements to register in California

  • 18 years of age by the date of the election
  • A resident of California
  • A Citizen of the United States
  • Not imprisoned or on parole for the conviction of a felony
  • Not judged mentally incompetent by a court of law

How to register to vote

  • Online at the California Secretary of State’s website (you can use your smartphone, tablet or notebook – or any computer with internet connection)
  • By mail – forms available at Post Offices, libraries, schools, some banks
  • In person at any Registrar of Voters Office in California. You may also register when doing business at any California DMV office.
  • Do yourself a favor – don’t wait until the deadline to register to vote or return your ballot. Your vote is more important than that.

Who needs to re-register?

  • If you have changed your name, address, or political party, you need to re-register to vote. Election materials including mail ballots will not be forwarded. To change your mailing address to avoid the delay and risk of having a parent or family member mail your ballot to you, you should Contact the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters office at (707) 565–6800 or visit their website.

What information is needed to register to vote?

  • Your name
  • Your residence address (this can be either your home address where you lived prior to coming to school, or your school address, whichever you consider to be your domicile)
  • The address to which you want your election materials mailed, if different than your residence address
  • Your date of birth
  • The State in which you were born, or if born outside of the United States, the foreign Country in which you were born.
  • Your California DL number or State ID number, or if you do not have either, the last 4 digits of your Social Security number
  • Your signature (if you are registering online and have supplied your California DL or State ID number, the signature you provided for that form will be automatically applied, if you are registering online and do not supply your California DL or State ID number, you can print out the filled in form, sign it and send it in – your data will be automatically forwarded to the county, awaiting receipt of your signature)

What other information is requested?

  • Your choice of political party. If you don’t want to choose a party mark select “No Party Preference.” Please note: American Independent is a conservative political party. It is not the same as choosing to be independent of a political party. At one time there were hundreds of students at Sonoma State University registered with the American Independent Party because they erroneously thought they were registering as Independent.
  • Depending on the form you are completing there may be a box to indicate whether or not you wish to be a Permanent Vote by Mail voter. See the information under Vote by Mail to determine if this is something you want to do.

Once I submit the information an I considered registered?

  • NO and we can’t stress this enough. You must receive confirmation from your County Elections Office (or verify online) that you are registered. In order to prevent duplicate or fraudulent registrations there are a number of safeguards in place. Once your registration is approved you will be sent verification of your registration (by email if registered online and provided your email address). Unfortunately, so many people wait until the last minute to register, counties can get backlogged and you may not receive the verification for several weeks.

Am I registered to vote?

Conditional Voter Registration

  • If you don’t register by the October 19thth deadline, there is a way for you to register and vote up to and including on November 3rd Election Day using California’s Conditional Voter Registration program. You should however, make every effort to meet the October 19th deadline because it is faster and easier to vote if you registered to vote by then.
  • There are additional steps to Conditional Voter Registration and depending on circumstances, you may not get to vote for some local offices or have to use a conditional ballot. It is recommended that you call the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters (707) 565-6800 for information regarding this process. Don’t take chances. Register to vote early.

So now that you're a registered voter - stay registered

  • Re-register every time you change your residence address. If you register at your dorm address and you’re in a different dorm next year – re-register. While you are probably in the same precinct and it would probably be legal for you to vote from your old dorm address, you will never receive your election materials.
  • Headed back “home” for the summer? Update your address for the summer – One election only 2 people voted in the primary election polling place at the SSU dorms because all of the students had left for the school year – if you update your address in advance (a phone call will do), your ballot can be sent to your other address.
  • Notify the elections office if you change (or drop altogether) your mailing address. Move back in with the folks? Drop that PO Box? Be sure you let the elections office know.
  • Vote – at least occasionally. It’s pretty hard to get cancelled for not voting. You have to miss 2 consecutive Federal General Elections (not just the local fire district election or school board race.