Top Ten Online Resources for California Voters

California voters are facing a very long ballot this election, but fear not! There is an amazing amount of user-friendly information online. This list will help you find the best of the best, whether you are looking for answers to basic voting questions or need a deep dive into the candidates and ballot propositions.

1. California Secretary of State
www.sos.ca.gov
The Secretary of State is the chief election officer and publishes the official state Voter Information Guide, where you can access the text, fiscal analysis and pro/con arguments for the 17 ballot propositions. A new feature is the Quick Guide to Props, in partnership with Maplight, with links to help voters follow the money and find out who's funding the proposition campaigns. You can also check your voter registration status or complete an online application to register or update your registration record (Oct. 24 is the deadline). Some resources like online registration and the voter information guide are available in nine other languages in addition to English.

2. Voters Edge 
www.votersedge.org/ca
Two nonprofits - the League of Women Voters of California

and Maplight - teamed up to give voters this state-of-the-art tool you can use to look up every contest on your ballot and drill down to get detailed information like candidate statements, donor information and news articles. You can also select and save your ballot choices. Much of the site is available in Spanish as well. This site is especially useful when researching "down ballot" local contests for which voting information is often difficult to find.

3. California Voter Foundation
www.calvoter.org
CVF's site is home to the California Online Voter Guide, providing comprehensive information on all state and federal contests in California, as well as deep links to additional resources. Highlights include CVF's Voting FAQ and the 2016 Proposition Song, an impartial, rhyming overview of all 17 propositions delivered in just five minutes. Be sure to sing along!

4. County Election Offices 
http://www.calvoter.org/voter/government/ceo.html
Most questions voters have about voting and registration are best answered by their local registrar of voters, especially because election practices and procedures vary from county to county. CVF's site provides a directory of all 58 county election offices with contact information for each county and links to lookup tools voters can use to check their registration and ballot status, access their sample ballot or find their polling place.

5. California Choices
www.californiachoices.org
A project of the nonprofit Next10 and UC Berkeley's
Institute for Governmental Studies, this site is a must-visit for voters looking for a quick way to sort out which groups are supporting or opposing each proposition. It provides endorsements from a range of organizations as well as labor unions and political parties. A great shortcut for busy voters!

6. Public Media Guides
Many public and non-profit news organizations are providing outstanding web resources this election. CalMatters covers all 17 propositions, as does KQED's Election Guide. A collaboration of four California public radio stations, California Counts provides in-depth coverage of election issues and contests and also KPCC's Human Voter Guide, answering actual questions from California voters.

7. SeePolitical 
www.seepolitical.com
The folks at SeePolitical have created an entertaining and

informative set of videos about the California propositions, animated and designed to engage voters visually. They are a great resource for voters looking for an alternative to text-based voting information. These videos have been translated into Spanish as well and are a great tool to use in classrooms or to show during an election house party.

8. Easy Voter Guide 
www.easyvoterguide.org  
A project of the League of Women Voters and the California State Library, this guide is a great alternative to the 224-page Voter Information Guide!

Written at a 4th grade reading level, this guide is helfpul for all voters who want a simple explanation of the ballot and propositions. It's available in print, online and in five languages.

9.  FPPC's Top Ten Donors
http://www.fppc.ca.gov/transparency/top-contributors.html
Voters wanting to find out who's funding initiative campaigns can use the California Fair Political Practices Commission's Top Ten Donors site to do their homework. If a top donor is getting money from other sources, the FPPC helps you drill down and see who their actual donors are. It also shows if donors are in-state or out-of-state.

10.  Google 
www.google.com
Google has collected essential voting information for all 50 states. If you type a voting-related question into Google, the site will likely answer it straight up, rather than just show you pages related to the question.

A few other suggestions:  it can be helpful to look at the voter guides put out by political organizations. For example, the left-leaning Courage Campaign offers a Progressive Voter Guide; while on the other side of the spectrum, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has its own recommendations. Whether you agree or disagree, seeing these guides from groups with an agenda can help you make informed choices.

There are some other creative resources out there to recommend as well. The Proposition Haikus is a short and sweet overview of all 17 propositions. A newcomer this election is Ballot.fyi, created by a group of citizens in the San Francisco Bay Area to provide a concise, nonpartisan review of each proposition. The site is beautifully designed, engaging and smartly-written.

If you want the back-story on a proposition, try Ballotpedia. A few other helpful news resources:  the Sacramento Bee's Voter Guide and the LA Times' Guide to the Propositions.

Happy surfing!