Your Voting Rights
Your vote is your voice. Don’t miss your chance to be heard on decisions that shape your community. In California, formerly incarcerated citizens can regain their voting rights.
You are eligible to register and vote if you are:
Restore Your Rights
- In county jail because jail time is a condition of probation
- A United States citizen and a resident of California
- 18 years old or older on Election Day
- In county jail serving a misdemeanor sentence. A misdemeanor never affects your right to vote.
- Serving a felony jail sentence
- In county jail awaiting trial
- On probation
- On mandatory supervision
- On post-release community supervision
- Done with parole. Your right to vote is restored when you complete your parole, but you must re-register, either online at RegisterToVote.ca.gov or using a paper voter registration card.
You are not eligible to register and vote if you are:
- Currently imprisoned in state or federal prison
- Currently on parole with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
PROP 47 — CHANGE YOUR RECORD. CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
California’s criminal justice system is changing. Long notorious for overcrowded prisons and punitive three-strikes sentencing, California now leads the nation in common-sense criminal justice reform.
Prop 47, overwhelmingly passed by California voters in November 2014, is now in effect for a period of eight years (through November 4, 2022). You may be eligible to get nonviolent felonies such as drug possession or shoplifting reclassified as misdemeanors or removed from your record. This could mean:
A better job
A new place to live
Opportunities for college loans and more
Are You Eligible?
If you were convicted for:
- Simple drug possession
- Petty theft, including commercial burglary of $950 or less
- Forging or writing a bad check for $950 or less
- Receipt of stolen property $950 or less
And none of the following is applicable to you:
- Conviction for rape, child molestation or other violent crimes
- Sex offender registrant
- Identity theft conviction
- Currently serving a sentence or on probation*
You may qualify to have your felony conviction reclassified as a misdemeanor or removed from your record.
*You may be eligible for resentencing. See MyProp47.org for more information.