This is just a friendly, civic reminder that Tuesday February 18th is the last day to register to vote in the California primary coming up soon on March 3. You can do that online here. Or, you can "conditionally" register to vote after the 15-day voter registration deadline by following these instructions: https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voter-registration/same-day-reg/
If you want to check your registration status, you can do that online here: https://registertovote.ca.gov
Republicans have a closed primary. You must be Republican to vote in it.
However, Democrats have an open primary, so on the day of the primary, any independents or folks registered with a third party can opt to vote in the Democratic contest.
Roughly 1 out of 4 registered votes in California are independents ("no party preference.") That's a lot of people! If you are one of them and want to make sure you get to vote in a presidential primary, here's how:
UPDATE: On Feb 13, 2020, a new law was passed allowing Californians to change their party preference in the 14 days before the election, including election day itself; see news article here: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/483331-california-moves-to-allow-voters-to-switch-party-registration-on-election
1) go online and re-register before Tuesday; after the primary, just re-register back to your "no party" or third party status.
OR
2) on March 3, go to your polling station and ask for the Democratic ballot. (You will not be able to ask for a Republican ballot on the spot because the Republicans have a closed primary).
OR
3) it's a bit more tricky if you received a mail in ballot for independents — which will be blank for the presidential race. However, you should have also received a postcard in December asking if you want to vote in a "qualified political party." If you missed that and got a mail in ballot that's blank for the presidential race and you want to vote in that contest:
3a) you can go to a polling place on March 3 and trade in your mail in ballot for a Democratic ballot
3b) you can go to the county elections office to trade it in at 625 Court Street, Room B-05 here in Woodland. (The deadline to request a new absentee ballot is Feb. 25.)
But again, if you miss the Feb. 25 deadline to request a new ballot to vote by mail, you can always go on the day of the primary to a polling place with your independent absentee ballot in hand and trade it in for a Democratic ballot on the spot.
Here are some more resources:
https://cavotes.org/voting-primary-election
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/08/us/california-register-to-vote.html
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article240051458.html
Thanks to Liza Grandia!!
Davisite 
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