The June primary may feel like it just happened, but the November 3 general election is close. CalMatters has begun publishing its guide to the November ballot, and it is the clearest free, nonpartisan explainer we know of for a California ballot this long.
CalMatters 2026 Voter Guide →
The Candidates
The guide covers the candidates for the state Assembly, the state Senate, the U.S. House, insurance commissioner, and the other statewide offices, including the race to replace term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Readers asked for this during the primary, so CalMatters added a page on the state Supreme Court retention election, with details on the associate justices on the ballot. They have also updated the guide’s FAQ based on reader feedback.
The Propositions
There are 14 statewide measures on the November ballot (the Secretary of State’s official list is the authority on what qualified). CalMatters has published guides and quizzes on three so far:
- Prop. 40 — a one-time 5% tax on Californians whose net worth exceeded $1 billion as of January 1, 2026. Most of the revenue would go to health care, with the remainder to education, food assistance, and administration.
- Prop. 41 — prohibits new state taxes that exclude revenue from the state spending limit, and requires the State Auditor to audit programs funded by new or increased special taxes.
- Prop. 42 — prohibits new state personal property taxes and certain retroactive state taxes.
One thing worth knowing before you get to that part of the ballot: these three interact. The Legislative Analyst’s Office notes that if Prop. 41 or Prop. 42 receives more “yes” votes than Prop. 40, Prop. 40 could be stopped from taking effect even if a majority of voters approve it, because the courts could find them in conflict. Read all three together rather than one at a time.
CalMatters will publish guides on the remaining propositions over the coming weeks.
Separately, we have written about Prop. 39, the voter ID measure, which is the one on this ballot that goes directly to whether eligible people can vote.
Dates that matter
- Oct. 5 — mail ballots go out to every registered voter in California
- Oct. 6 — ballot drop-off locations open
- Oct. 19 — last day to register to vote the ordinary way
- Oct. 31 — in-person early voting locations open statewide
- Nov. 3 — Election Day; polls close at 8 p.m.
Two Ventura County notes on top of that:
Missing the October 19 deadline is not the end. California has same-day conditional voter registration. After the 15-day deadline you can still register and vote a provisional ballot in person, at a vote center or the county elections office, right through Election Day. It counts once the county verifies your eligibility.
Ventura County is a Voter’s Choice Act county. That means every registered voter is mailed a ballot, and instead of a single assigned neighborhood polling place there are vote centers open for several days before the election, any of which any county voter can use. A smaller set opens first, with the rest opening in the final days. The county publishes the locations and hours for each election at the Ventura County Clerk-Recorder elections page. Check there for the November list rather than assuming last cycle’s site is open again.
And once you have voted, sign up for BallotTrax: it tells you when your ballot was mailed, received, and counted, so you know your vote landed.
Vote early. A ballot already in the box cannot be affected by anything that happens in the last week.
