Five minutes a week. Protect your vote.

0 / 8 YOUR PROGRESS
TOTAL ACTIONS COMPLETED
Checked DONE CATCH UP Options DONE CATCH UP ID check DONE CATCH UP Week 4 Know your ballot DONE CATCH UP Plan DONE NOW Week 6 Upcoming DONE Week 7 Upcoming DONE Week 8 Upcoming DONE

Know your ballot

Election Day is right around the corner, and if you’re voting early or by mail, it’s even sooner! It’s time to decide who and what you’re voting for. We’re not procrastinating this time! By the way, if your state offers early voting we strongly suggest you vote early if possible.

You probably know how you’re voting at the top of the ticket, but we want to help you get familiar with the issues and candidates all the way down the ballot because state and local races have a huge impact on your day-to-day life.

BallotReady allows you to explore what’s on your ballot, research candidates, and make informed decisions so that you know exactly what to do when it comes time to vote. Once you have your sample ballot prepared, voting becomes an open book test. Easy breezy!

All you need to do is enter your address (the one used to register to vote) and you’ll get a personalized ballot for your district that you can fill out and save to reference later.

REVIEW YOUR BALLOT
CALIFORNIA

Go to BallotReady to review what’s on your ballot.

Extra credit

I’m ready for more Confirm your ballot prep above to unlock

Help friends with their ballot prep

Plenty of voters fill in the top of the ticket and leave the rest blank. In the 2022 midterms, roughly 1 in 10 voters in battleground-state districts voted for governor or Senate but skipped their state legislative race entirely. Those down-ballot races decide who runs your schools, courts, and statehouse, and a sample ballot makes it easy to vote all the way down.

Do you know someone who could use a little help with their research?

Sample message

Hi [NAME]! I just reviewed everything on my ballot using 5 Minute Midterms including the local races I knew very little about. If you need help prepping your ballot before you vote you should check it out too! Here's the link: https://5calls.org/midterms

Voting is important. Informing your vote is critical.

Over 6,100 state legislative seats across 46 states are up for election in 2026, enough to swing partisan majorities in almost every chamber next year.
Lower turnout is frequently a result of a lack of awareness of the candidates and issues.
Nearly 50% of the members of Congress previously served in state legislatures.

Get the newsletter

One email a week. Additional info and updates. That’s it.