KEY DATES

September 4: Ballots mailed to military and overseas voters

October 5: Ballots mailed to all registered voters in the county.

October 19: Last day to register to vote in the November 2026 election and have a ballot mailed to you. (However, you can still register and vote at the elections office or in a dedicated location up to November 3.)

November 3: Election Day, followed by the mail-in ballot receipt window, ballot counting and curing, recounts, and certification.

Track what’s on the ballot

There are 14 propositions on the California ballot this fall. Thankfully, a few organizations have made them easier to understand. Check out an easy-to-scan table from the El Dorado Indivisible chapter, and the CalMatters 2026 Voter Guide.

HANDS OFF OUR VOTES

Hands Off Our Vote is Indivisible’s national election protection program to ensure all eligible voters get to cast their ballot, and that those ballots get counted.

Register with Hands Off Our Vote to stay in the loop about how to respond to attacks on our elections, get updates on any threats to your voting rights and learn how to counter them, and be ready to mobilize in defense of your vote. You’ll also be able to participate in rapid response moments whenever and wherever this regime tries to pull their dirty tricks.

Phone bank/text bank for democratic candidates

If you feel passionate about a candidate somewhere else in the country, you can phone bank or text bank as a volunteer for their campaign! Contact the campaign via its website to find out how.

If you don’t have a particular candidate that you are excited about, Indivisible will be organizing phone banks for endorsed candidates right up until Election Day. Bookmark this site to find phone banking opportunities that work for you.

You can also phone bank with SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice). Learn more and sign up here.

Write Postcards to Voters

Every Wednesday from 4 to 6 pm, a committed and fun group of people meet at Fruition Brewing, on East Lake in Watsonville, to write postcards to voters. All materials and messaging will be supplied, all you need to bring is yourself and a healthy love of democracy! Donations towards stamps are always appreciated but not at all required.

Help power the election here at home

Learn how to register voters if you haven’t had the training before, and sign up as a voter registration volunteer to be kept informed of upcoming opportunities and needs.

• Email Helen Ruiz-Thomas, Voter Registration & Outreach Coordinator for Santa Cruz County, to get on her mailing list. Once you're on her mailing list, Helen will keep you informed of upcoming training and tabling opportunities and will add you to her list of volunteers. You can check this calendar for upcoming opportunities, too.

If you have not been trained to register voters but you would still like to help, you can! Helen's booth always includes family activities like cornhole and button-making, so she can always use people to help with that part of the table.

• Sign up to work at the polls. In Santa Cruz County, this is called an "Election Officer." Click here for a description of the roles you could play, and click here to sign up. For Monterey County, this page describes the role and includes a link to the application form.

Help flip the House blue

Support Randy Villegas for Congress in CA22, a nearby district that has a good chance of swinging from red to blue. Randy is an incredibly impressive candidate in a recently redrawn, newly competitive district. Helping Randy win will be key to flipping the House. Living in a deep blue district as we do, we can feel powerless to help change things in Washington — but we aren’t! California Congressional District 22 is just a few hours away and we can make a difference there.

• Knock doors for Randy in Fresno with Swing Left (when you follow this link, click on “Event description” for details of how this works)

• Help La Raza Indivisible build civic awareness and engagement in CA22 through Latino Democracy Fairs.

• Donate to Randy’s campaign.