How to Register to Vote

If you haven’t yet registered to vote, get it off your to-do list now.

Six million people didn’t vote in the 2008 elections because they either did not know how to register or because they missed the voter registration deadline.

The voter registration deadline for California is Oct. 22.

Here’s information on how you can register in time for the Nov. 6 elections:

• Fill out a voter registration form in person at a Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder office. Voter registration forms are also available at Department of Motor Vehicle offices.
• If your signature is on file with the DMV, you can register to vote using the online form.

Though it's not available yet, in the future, California voters will be able to take advantage of same-day registration, thanks to a law signed Monday by Gov. Jerry Brown. The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2013; however, election-day voter registration won't be available until Vote-Cal—a statewide voter database that guards against registration in multiple counties—is implemented by the California secretary of state, according to the Los Angeles Times.

A secretary of state spokeswoman told the Times that the database will not be "up and running" until 2015.

The measure becomes law Jan. 1, 2013,  but election-day voter registration will not begin until after the California secretary of state begins operating Vote-Cal, a much delayed statewide voter database, which will allow real-time verification of whether applicants are registered in other counties.  

VoteCal is not expected to be up and running until 2015, said Nicole Winger, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state.