Picture the back hallway of a bakery in Fruitvale. By the time clock hangs a one-page notice: polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and a worker who can't vote outside working hours may take up to two hours off, with pay. A baker on the opening shift reads it and plans her Election Day, Tuesday, November 3.
Every California employer had to post that notice by October 24. Here is what else workers, owners and voters can do.
A lawsuit over about 20,000 mail ballots
On October 15, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the State of California and its election officials, including Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, in federal court. The department says the Department of Homeland Security compared public voter files with federal immigration data, in what DHS calls a preliminary analysis, and identified more than 20,000 people it believes are likely noncitizens and were sent mail ballots. After a 48-hour deadline it set for the state passed, the department asked the court to stop California from counting those ballots "until the voter's citizenship status can be determined."
"What our complaint alleges is that California is facilitating unlawful voting by knowingly allowing noncitizens to vote," Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said.
Weber replied that the list never reached her office, that federal officials have not shared their data or methods, and that every registrant attests to U.S. citizenship under penalty of perjury. "If the federal government possesses proof that certain registered voters in California are ineligible, we will welcome the opportunity to review that evidence and any supporting data or methodology," she wrote on October 15. Weber is herself on the November 3 ballot, seeking re-election as Secretary of State.
No court has ordered California to set those ballots aside. U.S. District Judge David O. Carter had not ruled on the department's request for a temporary restraining order when the department asked a federal appeals court to step in. On October 26, a Ninth Circuit panel dismissed that emergency appeal, 2 to 1, saying the department had not given the district court an adequate opportunity to consider its request. "The United States's claimed emergency, at least in part, is a self-constructed one," the court wrote. The case is back before Judge Carter, who had set a hearing on the request for October 27.
Five things to do before November 3
- Check your registration at voterstatus.sos.ca.gov. The deadline to register ahead of time was October 19, but it is not too late: through Election Day, you can register and vote the same day, on a provisional ballot, at your county elections office, a vote center or a polling place.
- Vote early. Ballots are in the mail, drop boxes and early voting sites have been open since October 5, and vote centers opened October 24 in Voter's Choice Act counties. Find a location at caearlyvoting.sos.ca.gov.
- Return your mail ballot the right way. Sign the envelope. Use a drop box, vote center or polling place by 8 p.m. on November 3, or mail it. A mailed ballot must be postmarked by Election Day and arrive by November 10, so mail it early.
- Track it with Where's My Ballot? (wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov), which sends a text, email or call as your ballot is mailed, received and counted. If your signature is missing or doesn't match, your county will contact you with a form to fix it.
- Get help in your language or a format you can use. You have the right to election materials in another language when enough voters in your precinct speak it, and to help from anyone you choose except your employer or union representative. Voting locations offer language help and accessible voting machines, and voters with disabilities can ask their county for a link to mark their ballot on their own device.
To see who is on your ballot before you vote, from Congress to city council, find your county on our 2026 Elections page. Each contest lists the candidates as the official list shows them.
For employers: the time-off-to-vote notice
Elections Code section 14001 requires every employer to post the time-off-to-vote notice where employees see it coming and going, at least 10 days before a statewide election. This year, that meant by Saturday, October 24. Under section 14000:
- A worker without enough time outside working hours to vote may take the time needed; up to two hours is paid.
- The time comes at the start or end of the shift, unless both agree otherwise.
- A worker who knows, three working days before the election, that they need time off must give at least two working days' notice.
If your notice is not up yet, print the Secretary of State's free notice (it comes in ten languages) and post it today, then check the November 3 schedule for late starts or early finishes. If someone asks you for help marking a ballot, point them to family, a friend or the county elections office.
Coming in 2027: more translated ballots
SB 1360, by Sen. Sabrina Cervantes (Chapter 339, Statutes of 2026), does not change this election. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it September 19 after both houses passed it without a no vote. From January 1, 2027, county elections officials must translate ballots, registration forms, voter materials, notices and websites into each covered language, and have enough trained bilingual poll workers or interpreters. Covered languages start with those the federal Voting Rights Act already requires. A new state list is due by December 15, 2031, and residents and groups can ask the Secretary of State to add a language.
"Whatever might happen in Washington, D.C. in the future, lawfully registered voters in California should have a voice in our government, regardless of whether they are fluent in English or have limited English proficiency," Cervantes said in her author's statement in the Senate floor analysis.
Where to get help
- Secretary of State voter hotline: (800) 345-VOTE (8683) in English, (800) 232-VOTA (8682) en español, TTY/TDD 711. All ten languages.
- County elections offices: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma.
This note is nonpartisan. It endorses no candidate or ballot measure and is not legal advice.
