We all want free and fair elections.

Californians deserve a democracy that values and holds sacred the freedom to vote. At California Common Cause, we are committed to defending voting rights, making the ballot box accessible for all eligible voters, and safeguarding our voting systems to guarantee accurate and fair elections. Every election year, we mobilize volunteers to help our fellow Californians navigate the voting process and cast their votes without obstruction, confusion, or intimidation.

California Common Cause runs an Election Protection program that is not affiliated with any party, candidate or issue campaign.

You can use the voting tools above to verify your voter registration, find out if you are eligible to vote, register to vote, get election reminders and more >>

 

For several election cycles, California Common Cause and Common Cause state organizations across the country have teamed up with the nonpartisan Election Protection Coalition to push election preparedness issues before Election Day.  For over a decade, California Common Cause has led the Southern California Election Protection program every election cycle. 

During the 2022 general election, we will be expanding in-person poll monitoring efforts into the lower-Central Valley for the first time in the organization’s history.

In the most recent 2020 general election, we deployed over 500 poll monitors across 1,200+ voting locations in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties over 3 days, including Election Day. We fielded reports from our poll monitors and worked with our volunteers, partners, and state and county elections officials to address issues that arose at voting locations in real-time. Our in-person poll monitoring program was supplemented by our text banking and social media monitoring programs, which focused on making sure voters were aware of their options for casting a ballot during the pandemic.

During the 2018 general election, California Common Cause deployed over 400 poll monitors to polling places in the following counties: Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, Riverside, Tulare, and Fresno counties. We fielded reports from our poll monitors in the field and worked with county election offices to resolve issues at polling places. We also received over 2,000 calls on the election protection hotline from voters asking for assistance or reporting polling place issues.

In the 2016 general election, we deployed hundreds of nonpartisan volunteers covering 325 precincts in Los Angeles County, 90 precincts in San Bernardino County, and 75 precincts in Orange County. Hotline volunteers in our L.A. call center fielded more than 3,600 calls.

Nonpartisan voter protection is at the core of what we aim to do – provide guidance, information and help to all Californians, regardless of who that voter is casting a ballot for.

For more information on how to get involved in future elections, visit our Election Protection website at: https://protectthevote.net

Become an Election Protection Volunteer

No qualified Californian should be deprived of their right to vote due to confusion, suppression, or intimidation.

That’s why California Common Cause has developed an election protection program for midterm and presidential elections. Direct volunteer intervention is the most effective way to make sure voters can’t be disenfranchised by confusion over election rules, long lines, under-resourced polling places, and acts of intimidation or deception. 

With our election protection program, we help eliminate these obstacles and make elections more efficient by:

  • Ensuring voters have access to the ballot box to make their vote count
  • Providing voters with necessary voting information and answering their questions
  • Quickly identifying and correcting any problems at polling places
  • Gathering information to illustrate potential barriers to voting

Join us in safeguarding our elections by signing up to be a:

  • Poll Monitor: Identify problems at polling sites and vote centers, answer voters’ questions, and escalate issues related to election administration and barriers to voting to our Command Center. Our poll monitors submit reports from each voting location they visit, thoroughly documenting the voter experience including wait times, common questions, and compliance with state and federal law. 
  • Social Media Monitor: Search for social media posts that share issues at the polls, connect voters to resources and support, and report election-related mis- and disinformation.
  • Voter Contact Volunteer: Use phone banking tools to talk to thousands of voters to give them accurate voting information and support.

Click here to learn more about the program, or to sign up to help us protect the vote!

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Voter's Choice Act