Election day is just over a week away. Annenberg Media created a step-by-step guide to casting your ballot in California, as well as the five most popular home states of USC students based on 2024 enrollment statistics — New York, Illinois, Texas, Washington and Florida.
The 2020 presidential election saw a historic number of mail-in ballots, and the postal services are preparing for another large turnout. Liv Bohler, director of marketing and curriculum at VoteSC, USC’s student-led voting organization, said she sees mail-in voting as a crucial tool, especially for young voters.
“It opens up the pathway to voting when you’re away from home, making it more accessible, which is really important,” Bohler said. “Young voters, in particular, face challenges, but as long as they’re given clear, effective guidance, I think mail-in voting is very beneficial.”
Though Bohler said she knows voting, especially by mail, can be overwhelming, she emphasized the need for college students to participate in this upcoming election.
“I think this is the most important time and environment for forming your own opinions and figuring out who you are,” she said. “There’s no better time to get involved and vote in a system that directly impacts you than right now.”
If you are from a state outside of those listed, refer to your Secretary of State website for more information on returning mail-in and absentee ballots.
California
Voter registration
To cast a ballot in the November 5 general election, citizens must register to vote. California’s first-time voter registration deadline was October 21. If you registered before this time, you should have received a ballot to the address listed on your registration.
If you missed the registration deadline, Californians can register as “same-day” voters at county elections offices, polling places or in-person voting centers. The Secretary of State website provides links to these registration locations.
I have my ballot, how do I return it?
All active California voters receive vote-by-mail ballots that can be returned at mail ballot drop box locations or at vote centers in Los Angeles.
To mail in completed ballots, voters must place them in the official return envelope, seal the envelope, sign and date the back and place them in the mail. These ballots do not need to have a paid post stamp. For mail-in ballots to be processed, they must be postmarked by election day and received within 7 days of the election. The United States Postal Service recommends returning ballots by mail at least 7 days in advance of the election.
If you are not returning your ballot by mail today, you can drop it off in person to ensure that your vote counts. Ballot drop-off locations opened on October 8. The closest mail-in ballot drop box is in the USC Village — and it’s open 24 hours a day. There’s also a drop-off box at the Ahmanson Senior Center in Exposition Park, open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day leading up to the election and then 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on election day.
On November 2, in-person voting centers open. The nearest center is the Village Voting Center. Voters can drop off their ballots or register to vote here during the same hours as the Ahmanson Senior Center. Wait times for day-of voting and other vote center locations can be found on the L.A. County Vote Centers website.
While most states’ deadlines to apply for an absentee ballot has passed, students may still be eligible to vote in L.A. County using their college residence address, according to lavote.gov. To do so, they must change their registration at one of the aforementioned polling centers or county elections offices.
College students have the choice to vote in their hometown or in their college town, vote.gov said. Students are encouraged to consider factors like convenience, who is on the ballot and policies that are important to them. When voting for your hometown from your college town, list your permanent address as your hometown address and college address as your mailing address.
In interviews with Annenberg Media, three students said they turned to their family members to help guide them through the voting process.
Kristen Hayward, a freshman from Huntington Beach, California majoring in game development and interactive design, said that she is voting with a mail-in ballot. She said that she doesn’t know too much about the process for mail-in voting.
“I registered a bit late this year because I kind of forgot about the deadline for it,” she said. “I live about an hour from my house, so I kind of just mailed it to my house, and now it’s at school with me, so I’m probably going to fill it out when I can and then mail it in.”
The state of California uses BallotTrax to power its “Where’s My Ballot?” service to notify citizens where their ballot is and its status after being returned. After California ballots are sent, the L.A. County Clerk recommends following up with the Vote by Mail Ballot Status checker to ensure that the vote was validated by the state.
New York
October 26 was the deadline for requesting a mail-in ballot. To return a New York mail-in ballot, registered voters can mail it before November 5 to be received by the County Board of Elections before November 12. Use the New York State Board of Elections Voter Lookup to track ballots.
Illinois
Voters can request a mail-in ballot up until October 31. After receiving the mail-in ballot, they must mail it through the United States Postal Service with a postmarked date by November 5. Illinois does not offer online ballot tracking.
Katie Casey, a junior majoring in Physics, is from Illinois. She said she requested a mail-in ballot but the ballot was sent to the wrong address, and she said she doesn’t know the process of casting her vote now. Despite this, Casey said she still wants to vote.
“Know about [the voting process] is a very strong term,” she said. “I just kind of called up my dad [and asked], ‘When am I supposed to turn this in?’”
Texas
The Texas Secretary of State said that those who are out of their home counties on election day and during the period for early voting by personal appearance are eligible for application for a ballot by mail. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot was October 25. There is a form on the SOS website for this application, which residents can print and mail, fax or email to the Early Voting Clerk. These clerks vary by county, and can be found at this link.
Additionally, the Texas Secretary of State has a ballot by mail tracker website.
Washington
October 28 is the last day mail-in registrations may be received in Washington state. Once registered, ballots are sent out to voters at least 18 days before the election, according to the SOS website. Once the mail-in ballot is received, voters have up until 8 p.m. on election day to have their ballot postmarked and returned to a ballot drop box. Regardless, the postal service recommends that they mail it in at least a week before election day.
To check the status of their ballot, voters can sign in to VoteWA.gov and click “Ballot Status.” However, it may take three to four days for the system to update the status.
Florida
The deadline for Floridians planning to cast their vote via mail was October 24, no later than 5 p.m. as stated by the Florida Department of State page. Additionally, official ballots must be received no later than 7:00 pm (local time) on Election Day. Florida’s DOS website also offers an online tracker at Vote-by-Mail Ballot Information and Status Lookup.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story did not include information on the USC Village drop-off box and instead said the closest box to campus was in Exposition Park. Annenberg Media regrets this error.