Step 5 of 8

See who or what you can vote for

A ballot has two kinds of choices. Most are people — you pick a person for a job, like Mayor or judge. Some are questions — the ballot asks you to decide something. Those are called ballot measures.

What is a ballot measure?

Usually you pick a person to make decisions for you. Sometimes the ballot asks you to decide — a yes-or-no question about a rule (a proposition), or about the city borrowing money to build something like a road or a park (a bond). Both are ballot measures.

See your own ballot

Every address gets a slightly different ballot. As an election gets close, your county posts a sample ballot on its elections website. Find yours here:

Not sure which county is yours? Go back to Step 2.

The next step helps you decide who and what to vote for.

⚠ Watch out — common mistakes