register to vote
If there are a multitude of items on the ballot and you only vote on one of them, your vote will still be counted.
If you are homeless, including living out of your car, you can register to vote.
There is no literacy requirement.
If you are 16 or 17 years old, you can pre-register to vote and you will automatically be registered to vote on your 18th birthday.
The main deadline to register to vote for any election is 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific Time on the 15th calendar day before that election.
You can register to vote online, (using a computer, iPad, tablet or smartphone) at http://registertovote.ca.gov
If you are registering or re-registering less than 15 days before an election you will need to complete the same-day voter registration process and request your ballot in person at your county elections office or polling location.
AND you can register to vote on election day as well. See details at: http://registertovote.ca.gov
There have been elections that ended in a tie, in part because many people did not vote. And there have been elections that were decided by very few votes.