1
The general election isn’t until Nov. 3, but Californians’ ballots are already in the mail. Check out our voting checklist to make sure you are all set. Learn more about the 12 propositions on California’s ballot. See the local issues on the local ballot in Los Angeles County. Find out where President Trump and Joe Biden stand on the issues and get the latest news on the presidential race. Check out which races will determine control of the U.S. Senate. And read about contested Southern California congressional races.
Read on for more. This page will be updated with more information.
A note about our election coverage
Experience in the 2000 presidential election, which wasn’t decided for over two months, helps guide the paper’s coverage for next week’s vote.
2
Recommendations from the Los Angeles Times editorial board
The Times endorses selectively. Recommendations for this election include president, one congressional race, the 12 statewide ballot measures and several Los Angeles city, county and school contests.
Here are the Los Angeles Times’ editorial board endorsements for president, California ballot measures and more.
3
Here’s how to make sure your vote is counted
When are the deadlines, how do you track your ballot, where is your closest voting center, and more.
Want to help uphold democracy on election day? Consider being a poll worker if you’re at low risk for a coronavirus infection. Here’s what’s involved.
California allows same-day voter registration, so you can still cast a ballot on election day today. Here’s how.
Mail-in ballots, registration deadlines, voting centers — we’ve got you covered with the basics of voting in the Nov. 3 election.
Watch in English, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin), Korean, Farsi, Armenian, Chinese (Cantonese), Tagalog, Vietnamese, Hindi, Japanese, Thai, Russian and Khmer.
A Times Special Report
In an election marked by uncertainties, the signature verification process for mail-in ballots is riddled with vulnerabilities and has never been tested on such a massive scale.
4
What is on the ballot in California?
California voters will decide the fate of 12 statewide propositions on Nov. 3, measures placed on the ballot either by politically powerful interest groups or lawmakers that cover a variety of topics including property taxes, criminal justice and workplace regulations.
5
What issues are on the local ballot in Los Angeles?
The race to run the nation’s largest prosecutor’s office has been framed as a test of appetites for criminal justice reform. Seats on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the City Council are also up for grabs.
COVID-19 hasn’t quite changed everything: In elections for the L.A. Board of Education, it’s still charter school advocates facing off against the teachers union. The stakes are high.
With 33 candidates vying for four at-large seats on the seven-member Los Angeles Community College District board, the well-being and academic success of the state’s neediest college students are at stake.
L.A. City Council race is now a proxy fight between establishment and leftist Democrats, with figures such as Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton weighing in.
Also: Measure RR, a $7-billion bond proposal that would pay for campus renovation and construction as well as technology,
The November contest between Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey and former San Francisco Dist. Atty. George Gascón to oversee the nation’s largest prosecutor’s office has been framed as a test of appetites for criminal justice reform.
Candidates for two seats on the L.A. City Council must address a hot-button question: What’s the best way to root out corruption at City Hall?
L.A. County supervisors pass a measure to let voters decide whether to boost funding for mental health, housing and other social programs.
Many of the familiar rituals of stumping for votes are off the table during the COVID-19 pandemic, drastically changing what it looks like to run for office in L.A.
6
Our latest coverage of the presidential race
A former aide in the Trump State Department has been charged with participating in the deadly Capitol siege and assaulting police.
Senate Democrats reduce the weekly federal unemployment supplement from $400 to $300 in their COVID-19 relief package.
President Biden relied on the authorizations last week to carry out a retaliatory airstrike against Iranian-backed militia in eastern Syria.
As the Biden administration mulls paying farmers to mitigate warming, climate economists question if the push is backed by science or pressure for Big Ag subsidies.
More Coverage
Vice President Kamala Harris emerges as the focal point of the White House’s intraparty tussle over minimum wage. How she handles this first tussle will be telling.
Former Presidents Obama and Trump promised big infrastructure plans but didn’t deliver. President Biden says he can, despite a polarized Congress. Why the optimism?
Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s first opinion shields the EPA from being forced to release draft opinions on new rules.
The Senate began debating its version of the $1.9-trillion economic aid bill Thursday, kicking off a multiday process.
The two governors were once lauded for pandemic leadership but now are fighting for political survival.
House Democrats have rushed to pass the most ambitious effort in decades to overhaul policing.
A report shows that the Transportation Department’s watchdog wanted Elaine Chao to be criminally investigated when she was Transportation secretary.
The Republican and Democratic parties’ battle over voting rights and restrictions threatens to dominate and embitter the country’s politics.
More Coverage
Read more from our politics team.
7
Biden vs. Trump: Where they stand on the issues
(Associated Press)
-
Where President Trump and Joe Biden stand on immigration policy, including DACA, refugees, asylum seekers, pathways to citizenship and deportations.
-
In foreign policy, Joe Biden would dismantle President Trump’s actions, while the incumbent would stay his unpredictable course.
-
Trump and Biden hold radically different views on environmental policy and climate change. Here’s what voters can expect from the next president.
-
President Trump has a hard-line position on policing. Joe Biden urges reforms to limit the use of force but rejects calls to ‘defund’ the police.
-
-
Trump and Biden diverge on the coronavirus pandemic, Obamacare, Medicare and Medicaid, abortion rights, and how to rein in prescription drug prices.
-
-
Trump’s approach on trade has been unilateral and with lots of tariffs. Biden wants to rally allies to take on China’s trade abuses.
-
President Trump stresses plans to keep low-income housing out of the suburbs, as Joe Biden offers array of plans to relieve homelessness.
-
8
2020 Candidates: The Times’ full coverage
President Trump has been formally nominated as the Republican candidate. The Times tracks his path in pursuit of election to a second four-year term.
Vice President Mike Pence is President Trump’s running mate again this fall. The Times tracks his path in pursuit of reelection.
9
Will the U.S. Senate flip?
In the shadow of the presidential campaign, the parties are also waging a fierce battle over control of the Senate in 2020.
Democrats have high hopes of capturing a Senate majority, but the outcome remains uncertain.
The road to a majority runs through Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Montana, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
10
Follow close Southern California congressional races
O.C. coastal cities became the face of the resistance to California coronavirus orders. Does that presage their congressional seat going red?
In 2018, Democrat T.J. Cox won the seat by fewer than 1,000 votes over Republican David Valadao. They are facing off again. California’s Central Valley is a bastion for President Trump, but the congressional race in District 21 could go either way.
Two years ago, Democrat Gil Cisneros was a political newcomer. Now an incumbent, he’s again facing Republican Young Kim in a rematch of the 2018 race.
It’s a stunning turnaround for the speaker, who just two years ago was being challenged for her job leading House Democrats.
11
