About the Election
This is a normally scheduled midterm election for the United States House of Representatives.
Election day is Tuesday, November 6, 2018.
Early voting will be available starting Monday, October 8, 2018.
About California’s 10th District
The district contains Oakdale, Manteca, Modesto, Tracy, and Turlock. It’s the only competitive district with a Republican incumbent in Northern California.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the district with 48.5% of the vote, with Trump getting 45.5% of the vote.
About Republican Congressman Jeff Denham
Jeff Denham is a Republican who has been in Congress since 2010. His electoral margin has been narrowing—in 2016, he won by only 3.4%.
Jeff has voted with Trump almost 100% of the time. He opposes abortion rights, supports mandatory minimum sentences, opposes regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, voted against raising the debt ceiling (which lead to the 2013 government shutdown), voted for Paul Ryan’s godawful AHCA healthcare bill, and opposes same-sex marriage.
Primary Election
The primary election is on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. We aren’t backing a Democratic candidate in this primary race—right now we are just laying groundwork to help whichever Democrat wins the nomination.
Voter Registration
The deadline to register by mail or online is May 21, 2018.
It’s possible that some folks may not realize that they are already registered to vote, because California makes it possible to create or update your voter registration when getting or renewing a drivers license.
Citizens can also register and conditionally vote at their county elections office until Election Day. The conditional vote will be counted if the registration goes through successfully.
Californians can check their registration status online at https://voterstatus.sos.ca.gov.
Vote By Mail
Vote-by-mail is the most popular way to vote in California. A majority of ballots cast in California are sent by mail.
California offers permanent vote-by-mail status and about half of Californians use it. They get a ballot in the mail automatically before every election.
As long as the vote-by-mail ballot is postmarked by Election Day, it is valid. It must arrive at the county elections office no later than 3 days after Election Day, which is well within the typical delivery time of the Postal Service.
Still, procrastinating voters who mail in their ballots on Election Day should double check the collection time of the mailbox they use—if they miss the collection, then they will miss the postmark and their ballot will not be counted. If they want to be sure their ballot counts, they can always drop it off in-person at their polling location.
Voters in Stanislaus County can check on the status of their mail-in ballot by going to http://www.stanvote.com, clicking on “Voter Services”, and then clicking on “My Ballot Status”.
Voters in San Joaquin County can check on the status of their mail-in ballot by going to www.sjcrov.org/voterlookup.html
Voter ID
Californians don’t usually need ID to vote. But first-time voters should bring it because it may be needed if their registration form had missing or incorrect information. Their ID doesn’t need to be a drivers license or similar photo ID; a utility bill, or even a county voter information guide with the voter’s name on it is sufficient.
Re-enfranchisement
Californian citizens convicted of a felony regain the right to vote immediately after they serve prison time and parole.