Madison Slocum-Juarez, October 6, 2025
Cal Poly Pomona is holding weekly voter registration drives through Oct. 19 ahead of the Nov. 3 general election, giving students the opportunity to register to vote on campus as they balance working, commuting and other barriers to voting, said Associate Professor of Political Science Jarred Cuellar.
The voter registration drives are held every Monday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a voter registration table available in front of the Bronco Student Center, across from the patio by Innovation Brew Works. Voter registration qualifications are students must be 18 years old on election day and be a U.S. citizen.
For students who are registered, understanding what’s on their ballot is another part of the voting process, according to Mario Guerrero, the political science department chair and a professor of political science.
“When you’re looking at the ballot, … you are going to be inundated with all sorts of things,” Guerrero said.
For example, California voters will elect a new governor during the midterms, either Democrat candidate Xavier Becerra or Republican candidate Steve Hilton. Additionally, the Los Angeles mayoral race is also taking place with candidates Karen Bass and Nithya Raman.
Voters will also vote on 14 propositions like prop 29, which requires voters to present ID at polling places. Voters will also elect representatives for 80 assembly seats and 20 Senate seats, according to California’s Secretary of State’s official 2026 voters’ guide.
“Don’t discount our lower-level elections,” Cuellar said. “They tend to impact our day-to-day lives more than you really think. These elections affect higher education, like tuition increases.”
There are also many resources to help students understand the ballot, who the candidates are, and the differences between official election information and organizations’ endorsements, according to Guerrero.
Election information tells voters what measures will be on the ballot, while an endorsement is an organization’s opinion that it will give on platforms such as TikTok, according to Guerrero.
To learn what’s on the ballot, Guerrero recommends reading voter guides, using local news, attending campus election events and evaluating how much you trust the source.
Katherine Cervantes, a political science student, said having conversations with peers helps educate her, and she likes to share her knowledge as she learns about the ballot with others.
There are three ways to vote in California. Registered voters can vote early in-person at county elections offices, vote at vote centers on Election Day or vote by mail, according to the California Secretary of State’s website.
CPP students reside mainly in five different counties, according to CPP’s civic engagement website.
Students can vote outside of the county they are registered in, according to Cuellar. Commuters can drop their completed mail ballots at any official drop-off location across the state and on campus by the Student Services Building.
“A lot of students at CPP tend to work part-time, at least,” Cuellar said. “Most commute, so trying to find the time and the bandwidth to vote is a big barrier.”
