A step away from the traditional going to a polling station to vote, California voters can now receive their ballots in the mail and then drop their ballots off in the local drop off.
The primary elections, for those who don’t know, are the elections where you voters decide who they want to represent their party in the Presidential Elections.
This year, there is a variety of Democratic nominees that are on the ballot. The selected candidate will face-off with President Donald Trump to see who will be our next President of the United States. The Presidential Election will take place later this year, on Nov. 3.
To be able to vote in this year’s elections you must 18 year of age and have to register to vote in order to cast a vote. You can register to vote online at California’s official voting website.
In California, they also allow same-day registration at their polling stations, so if you are not registered in time for the primaries, do not worry. If you are not 18 yet you can pre-register for the next elections online.
But are these elections important to college students? Fullerton College student and first-time voter, Matt Blackney, says, “A lot of people like to talk about the presidency, but they never take a role in the outcome. You need to vote to have your opinions actually have an impact, no matter who you plan to vote for, or your personal stance with the current resident. Registering to vote is the first step to making a difference.”
Bernie Sanders is the current vote leader in the Democratic race, with Joe Biden being his closest trailer. In 2019, 43.1% of California voters are Democrat according to the Public Policy Institute of California, which is the biggest population of voters in the state of California. This has the implication that California voters could have a big impact on who is elected as the Democratic nominee, especially with the big voter population of 20.7 million registered voters. California also has a total of 416 delegates, which could have a big impact on the elections.