Registered voters in California can expect to receive their ballots soon, as officials begin sending out voting packages by Oct. 7, 29 days before the presidential election.

Voters can choose to fill out, sign, and mail back their ballot—no stamp needed—by Election Day, Nov. 5, which is the last day for a valid ballot to be postmarked. Signatures are required and will be checked against those provided on voter registration cards to verify authenticity.

Ballots can also be dropped off at in-person polls on Election Day between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., or at designated drop boxes, which will be opened around Oct. 7.

Residents who need to submit a change of address have until Oct. 21 to update their registration. Prospective voters can register before or on Election Day.

All county voting centers will exchange mail-in ballots for polling place forms for those who prefer to vote in person. Those who arrive without their mailed ballot will be asked to fill out a provisional ballot that will be counted once the county can verify that the original ballot was not submitted.

Voters can track their ballots’ status on the California secretary of state’s website or on a separate state site.

Tracking updates are available via email, text, or voice message and will include details about when the ballot is expected to arrive, when it was delivered, when the county receives it, whether it was accepted or an explanation for why it was rejected, the steps to take to make sure the ballot is counted, and deadlines for submission if the ballot is not received.

Registered voters who don’t receive a ballot in the mail, or those who lose or damage the original, can apply for a replacement by contacting local county elections offices or completing a form provided by the state.

Absentee ballots were first offered in California in 1920, but were allowed only in special circumstances when voting in person was impossible.

In 1962, the first year the state kept such data, fewer than 3 percent of voters used mail-in ballots.

California expanded access to mail-in ballots in 1978 and significantly broadened mail-in voting in 2016 with the passage of the Voter’s Choice Act by the Legislature.

About 58 percent of votes came through the mail in 2016, according to secretary of state data.

Nearly 10 million Californians chose to vote by mail in 2022, accounting for almost 90 percent of all ballots cast.

In an Oct. 1 press release, San Francisco was one of the first counties in California to announce that ballots were coming soon.

More than 500,000 ballots are expected to arrive in registered voters’ mailboxes in the first week of October.

California moved to universal mail-in ballots in 2020 amid the pandemic, raising concern among some voters.

“What happens when someone’s mail-in ballot gets stolen and sold then sent in after I vote at the polling location near me?” one voter asked in a Oct. 2 X post. “How do you plan to ensure the election is still secure and fair when California sends all registered voters a ballot?”

While discussions about election integrity and mail-in ballots have persisted nationwide, county officials said they’re prioritizing security and fraud protection

“Voting by mail is a safe, secure, and dependable method for casting your ballot,” John Arntz, elections director for San Francisco County, said in the press release. “When choosing to vote by mail, voters can be assured that their votes are counted with integrity, their identities remain confidential, and they can confirm that their ballots have been received and counted.”

He said all residents eligible to vote should cast a ballot in November.

San Francisco also offers an accessible remote voting system that allows voters to download their ballots to a computer and use various technologies—including a screen reader, head pointer, and sip-and-puff devices, among other things—to complete their ballot, which can then be printed and returned to officials in person or by mail.

Los Angeles County will begin sending out ballots on Oct. 3, according to a press release from the county registrar.

Nationwide, residents in some states—including Delaware and North Carolina, where ballots started going out 60 days before the election; and Kentucky and Pennsylvania, where mailings begin 50 days before—are already receiving mail-in ballots.

Voters in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas and Oregon wait the longest, with ballots mailed out about 20 days before Election Day.

Also impacting elections in California this year was a decision by Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign Senate Bill 1174, introduced by Sen. Dave Min, which prohibits local governments from enacting laws that require voter identification.

The bill targeted Huntington Beach after the city’s voters in March approved Measure A, which requires election officials to check identification at polling sites.

While identification—including a Social Security number or driver’s license—is needed to register to vote in California, no government ID is required to cast a ballot.