California's March 3 primary election is right around the corner. The deadline to register or update your voter information online was Feb. 18, but if you forgot, don't fret.
Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed a new law that makes it way easier to update your voter registration information in the two weeks before the election.
"It's particularly important for this election, since in a presidential primary, your party determines which presidential candidates you can vote for," said Sam Mahood, spokesman for California Secretary of State Alex Padilla.
That means if you want to vote in the Democratic primary — even if you're not a registered Democrat — you need to ask for a Democratic ballot. And if you want to vote in the Republican primary, you need to register as a Republican. More on that below.
It's going to be a unique election, Mahood added, since it's also California's first presidential primary that will allow same-day voter registration at polling places statewide.
Here's what you need to know about voting in California's primary election:
When is the last day to register and re-register to vote?
Feb. 18 at midnight was the cutoff for online registration and re-registration to vote in California's primary election. You can still register or re-register at any polling place on election day, or at a voting center or your county's elections office on or before then. Here is where you can find an early voting center.
The Secretary of State's Office is encouraging people not to wait until election day if they know they have to make changes to their voter registration.
"We're expecting really high turn out this year, so we're really encouraging people to vote early if possible," Mahood said.