Voters Without a Fixed Address
Each person who registers to vote must provide an address where they live and an address where they receive their mail, if different. Why? Because the address where you live determines which contests that you are eligible to vote, and the Registrar of Voters needs a mailing address or P.O. Box to send your voting materials.
No current fixed address? No problem! You CAN register to vote!
Under California law, you do not lose your voting domicile (another term for voting residence) until you gain a new domicile. Whether you are homeless, living on the road, or if you lost your home for any reason and do not yet have a new fixed place where you intend to stay, you may use the last residence address you had as your voting residence. It will be important to update your voter registration each time your information changes.
On your Voter Registration Card, provide the last street location where you resided, or if none, simply describe where you live by providing the city, zip code, and closest intersecting cross-streets. You may select a location based on where you intend to remain each night, and if you leave for a while, this would be the location you intend to return. This may be a public camp or park, or simply the cross section of streets where you intend to rest each night.
Next, you must provide a current mailing address where you can receive your voting materials, such as a P.O. Box. The United States Postal Service (USPS) offers general delivery mail services to customers with no fixed address and no identification.
Did you know… Starting January 1, 2020, California law now allows you to use a business address as your residence, if that place of business is also where you now reside.
Information about how a voting domicile is determined is found in California Elections Code sections 2020 through 2035.
