Get Help Voting in California

Vote in March 5 and November 5 Elections and Decide Who Will Represent You

You can help decide who represents you and who will shape your future. Tuesday, March 5 is the primary election in California, and Tuesday November 5 is the general election. 

Arcela Nuñez, cofounder of Universidad Popular in San Marcos, explains why everyone should take part in the March 5 primary.

“We get to determine which of the choices of candidates we really feel most connected to and who would be most representative for us,” she tells North County Informador.

The primary is also how individuals who are members of a specific party decide which candidates from that party will move on to the general election.

How to Vote

California has made it easy for individuals to vote. There are now vote centers all over the county, and you can go to any vote center, not necessarily the one closest to your home.

There, you can register to vote and cast your vote the same day, and you have several days to do so. The last day to register to vote for the March 5 Presidential Primary Election is February 20.

The registrar of voters is always also looking for individuals to act as poll workers for the election, especially if they’re bilingual.

Visit: https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections

(916) 653-6814

Free Citizenship, Voting, Civics Classes

If you are confused about voting, how government works, becoming a citizen, or other topics, Universidad Popular offers free citizenship classes every Tuesday in English and Spanish.

The program “provides the teaching of US History and Government that helps individuals who are going through naturalization learn the content to be able to successfully pass their civics test,” Arcela tells us.

Once individuals have become naturalized, Universidad Popular helps them register to vote, guiding them through the process. “We do election education so then they’re able to really participate. We do classes about propositions, about candidates,” says Arcela. The course material is nonpartisan.

Arcela knows the election process can be intimidating, especially for new citizens and first-time voters. People need help understanding all the pamphlets, the propositions, and the candidates’ views. “We break it up, we have discussions. We have candidate forums,” Arcela explains.

The citizenship course is in its seventh year, having started in response to community concerns after the 2018 election.

“We started about seven years ago offering history of government classes that were specifically trying to teach our community how to get more involved in different civic affairs,” says Arcela.

The course includes volunteers who help students with reading, writing, and reviewing the 100 questions from the citizenship exam. “We help people register, and then we help them to review materials. They really go hand in hand and build on each other,” Arcela tells us.

But not all the students become citizens. In the end, it is a program to help individuals “get more involved civically…citizenship is just one of the steps along that pathway,” says Arcela.

She adds that many individuals may not want to go to the community colleges, where they have to go through placement testing, so Universidad Popular is an option for them. “We make it very open…helping them at whatever level that they’re coming in.”

The course is year-round, and one semester is needed to cover all the content, but anyone can start at any time.

To prepare for elections, Universidad Popular helps students understand the process, how the primaries and the predominantly two-party system works.

The March 5 primary and the November 5 general election are both important in deciding our future and in determining who will represent our interests. “We want to get as many people to be part of both as we possibly can,” says Arcela.