2024 Election: How to find your Bay Area voting location

OAKAND, Calif. - Politics is in the air and nearly everyone you bump into is feeling anxious about the upcoming Nov. 5 election where the president of the United States will be chosen, as well as a slew of propositions and local races that include deciding whether to recall the mayor of Oakland and the district attorney of Alameda County.

Many eager voters want to fill out their ballots now, so their votes can start to be counted.

If you're one of those people, you can either mail in your ballot or deliver it yourself to a number of locations that are accepting ballots.

Find your nearest voting location

The California Secretary of State site allows you to search by city and county. 

Some examples of sites accepting ballots include the College of Alameda, the San Ramon Valley United Methodist Church and the Belmont Public Library.

To search the location nearest you, click here. 

If you vote early in your county, remember that voting hours may differ by location, and some locations may not be open every day.

Bay Area county-by-county links for polling places:

• Alameda County: Vote center location look-up
• Contra Costa County: Polling place look-up
• Marin County: Vote center locations look-up
• Napa County: Vote center locations look-up
• San Francisco: Polling place look-up
• San Mateo County: Vote center locations look-up
• Santa Clara County: Vote center locations look-up
• Solano County: Sample ballot and polling place Look-up
• Sonoma County: Vote center locations

Deadline for early absentee voting, where to drop-off ballots:

Early voting sites open on Oct. 7. 

Any registered voter in California has the option to vote by mail instead of going to the polls on Election Day.

There are many ways to return your ballot.  

• Voters can mail in their ballot to their county elections office.
• Vote-by-mail ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day and received by your county elections office no later than seven days after Election Day.
• If you are not confident your vote-by-mail ballot will arrive on time, bring it to any polling place in California on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Ballots can be dropped off at a ballot drop-off location or into a ballot drop box within the state.
• Vote-by-mail ballots that are personally delivered to a ballot drop-off location must be delivered no later than the close of polls at 8 p.m. on Election Day.
• Voters may authorize someone else to return the ballot on their behalf, as long as they do not get paid on a per-ballot basis.
• If someone is dropping off your ballot for you, you must fill out the authorization section found on the outside of your ballot envelope.

What time do the polls open and close on Election Day?

On Tuesday, Nov. 5, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.