• You must be a United States citizen and reside in the state of California.
• You must be 18 years old or older on Election Day.
• You cannot be currently serving a state or federal prison term for a conviction of a felony.  Please see Voting Rights for People with a Criminal History for more information.
• You cannot be found mentally incompetent to vote by a court. 

Registration forms are available at the Kings County Elections Office. You may also contact the Kings County Elections Department and request a form be mailed to you.

Voter registration is available with most transactions at the Department of Motor Vehicles and at most Government Offices.

Yes, the California Online Voter Registration is available at RegisterToVote.ca.gov.  To completely register online, you will need your driver license or California Identification card number, the last four digits of your social security number, and your date of birth. Your information will be provided to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to retrieve a copy of your DMV signature. 

If you do not have a California driver license or California Identification Card, you can still use this form to apply to register to vote.  However, you will need to print, sign, and return the form to the Elections Department to complete the process. 

A person must use their place of residence when registering to vote. You can use a business address or P.O. Box as a mailing address for your voting materials.

On the registration form, please provide us with the nearest cross-street where you are located a majority of the time.  You must provide us with a mailing address so that we may deliver you voting materials to you.    

A college student may register to vote using their college residence address or may choose to use their family residence. California Elections Code § 2025 allows college students to establish domicile or legal residence where they attend school if they so desire.  Remember, the races that appear on your ballot are dependent on your residence address.  If you would like your local races for Kings County to be on your ballot, register with your Kings County address.    

No, you do not have to choose a political party preference at the time you register.  If you do not want to choose any of the qualified political party preferences available, you may choose “I do not want to choose a political party preference”. You will then be registered as a "No Party Preference" Voter (NPP).

For more information on political parties, please visit the Secretary of State's webpage on Political Parties. 

California military and overseas voters may use the Secretary of State's site to complete an online registration and request a special voter status known as UOCAVA (Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voter). UOCAVA voters must provide us with a mailing address that is outside of Kings County. When filling out your application, you can choose to have your ballot mailed, faxed, or emailed to you 45 days before Election Day. 

You may visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program website for assistance in registering to vote with UOCAVA status. 

If you would like your voting materials mailed to you, you must be registered 14 days before Election Day. Otherwise, you can visit the Elections Office or any open Vote Center and complete a Conditional Voter Registration and vote. 

Please see our In-Person Voting section for more information about conditional voter registration. 

Yes. Please complete the Registration Cancelation Form and return it to our office at your earliest convenience.    

Contact the Kings County Elections Department if you have questions about your registration:

Kings County Elections Department 
1400 West Lacey Blvd. 
Hanford, CA 93230 

Phone: (559) 852-4401 / 1-800-289-9981 ext. 4401

Email: elections@countyofkings.com

California Assembly Bill 37, passed in 2021, requires the County Elections Official to send a ballot to all active registered voters.  You can use that ballot to cast your vote, or you can still vote in-person. You can surrender you Vote-by-Mail ballot to elections staff when you vote in-person, or you may shred the ballot yourself.  

Just as you must be "checked in" when you vote in-person, the same is true for all ballots returned by mail.  The barcode that is present on your return envelope has been assigned to you and no one else.  If that envelope is returned to the office, either by mail, Official Ballot Drop Box pick up, or dropped off in- person it must be scanned into our Election Management System (EMS).  The EMS will then apply Voter Participation Credit to your voter record and will update our Poll Pads with that information as well.  This will alert the Vote Center staff if someone has already turned in a ballot and that person will be asked to vote a Provisional Ballot.    

The inverse is also true.  If you vote in person and then try to turn in a Vote-by-Mail ballot, the Poll Pad will apply Voter Participation Credit to the checked-in voter, send that information to the EMS, and the EMS will automatically void the barcode alerting Elections Staff to investigate the envelope further before processing should it be scanned.     

Please remember, knowingly attempting to vote twice in an election is a crime and all instances will be referred to the District Attorney's office for review. 

Return envelopes are placed into "batches".  The batch is checked-in via the barcode into our EMS (Election Management System). Once checked-in, the batch goes through signature verification.  The signature on the return envelope is matched up with the signatures we have in your voter profile by office staff. If the signature matches, you receive "Voter Participation Credit" (VPH) and your envelope is moved to our ballot extraction machine where the envelope is sliced open, and the ballot is extracted.  The ballot is then flattened and placed into a new batch to be ran through the counting devices.

If the signature does not match, or if your signature is missing from your envelope, a letter will be sent to you with instructions on how to correct the issue. Any issues with your signature must be resolved at least 2 days before certification of the election.  The date of the certification of the election will be posted online and on our office door.   

Yes, please sign up for envelope status notifications from Where's my Ballot from BallotTrax, the state sponsored envelope tracking system. Where's my Ballot will send you notifications of your envelope every step of the way, from initial mailing to acceptance at the Elections Office. 

No. Once the ballot has been removed from the envelope, any identifying features are lost.  This is done to maintain secrecy of the vote. Rest assured; any ballot that has been accepted will be ran through our counting devices. 

Yes, you can and we encourage you to do so.  The easiest way is to return your Vote-by-Mail ballot as early as possible, either by mail or by dropping it off at the Elections Department or one of our many Ballot Drop Boxes deployed throughout Kings County. If you want to vote in-person, the Elections Office is available for early voting starting 29 days before Election Day.  

As a Vote Center County, we will have 2 centers open starting 10 days before Election Day, including weekends and holidays. The remaining centers will open 3 days before Election Day including the weekend and holidays. All centers will be open on Election Day. 

A list of all locations including hours of operation will be included with your Vote-by-Mail ballot, in your voter information guide, and posted on our website during election season. You can also call the Elections Department for location information. 

You must be in line to vote at any Vote Center before the close of polls for that day.  For Early Voting Days, that time is 5:00 P.M. For Election Day, that time is 8:00 P.M.  

Vote-by-Mail ballots that are returned in-person, either at the Elections Office, Vote Center, or Official Ballot Drop Box, must be delivered no later than 8:00 PM on Election Day.

Vote-by-Mail ballots that are mailed must have a post mark either on or before Election Day and must be received by the Elections Office no later than 7 days after Election Day.  If you are waiting to mail your ballot close to Election Day, it is recommended that you have the Postal Counter Clerk date stamp the return envelope in your presence. 

Visit our in-person voting page for more information.  

Visit our Vote-by-Mail voting page for more information. 

Who do I contact to report possible election violations?

It is important to note that the Kings County Elections Department is not an enforcement agency and has no authority to investigate alleged violations. Any complaints received by our department will be forwarded to the appropriate investigative bodies.  If you would like to report a possible violation, please email the Elections Department or contact the investigative body listed below.

I want to report some false or misleading campaign material.

False or misleading information regarding the election itself, including social media rumors, should be shared with Office of Election Cybersecurity. 

False or misleading information regarding a specific candidate or measure should be shared with the candidate or measure supporters themselves. 

I want to report Violations of the Political Reform Act (i.e. mass mailing requirements, slate mailers, campaign disclosure documents, improper use of campaign funds, etc.)

All violations of the Political Reform Act should be reported to the FPPC.  You can contact them at (916) 322-5660 or by email: complaint@fppc.ca.gov. You can also visit their website fppc.ca.gov for more information. Please note this is for state and local candidates only. 

Candidates for Federal Offices, such as President of the United States and Members of Congress, should be reported to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). Please visit the contact page for reporting information.  

I want to report possible election fraud.

Please email or call the Elections Department at (559) 852-4401 with detailed information about the possible fraud so that we are aware of any potential issues that may arise.  You can also contact the local District Attorney office at (559)852-2392 and report it to the California Secretary of State's office.  Please visit the Secretary of State's Voter Complaint site for forms and contact information.   

I want to report vandalism of campaign signs.

Contact your local city officials for regarding who to contact for vandalism issues.   

Why does it take so long to get final results?

Voters and candidates are frequently surprised on the day after an election when they learn that there are ballots remaining to be counted. These uncounted ballots may leave some close races undecided for days or even weeks. California Election Code allows 31 days after the election to complete the ballot tally and the official audit of the election, known as the Canvass. When the Canvass is completed, the results are certified as official.

What results are reported on Election Night?

Results that are reported on Election Night include all ballots that are casted in-person at our Vote Centers and any processed Vote-by-Mail ballots that are returned early.  These numbers that are reported are known as the "Semi-Official Canvass of the Vote".  

What ballots are not included in the Semi-Official Canvass?

The following ballots are not included in the Semi-Official Canvass:

• Vote-by-Mail ballots that are returned to the Vote Center on Election Night.  These ballots must still go through ballot processing, including signature verification.  
• Vote-by-Mail ballots that are returned via Official Ballot Drop Boxes on Election Day.  Every effort is made to pick up these ballots throughout the day to process them and include them in the Semi-Official Canvass. However, the amount that we can include is dependent on the volume that is returned. 
• Vote-by-Mail ballots that are returned via Postal or Courier Delivery after Election Day. As long as the return envelope has a date stamp on or before Election Day, we can process that ballot as "casted on time" if we receive it within seven days after Election Day. We still have to complete all verification steps.    
• Provisional and Conditional ballots that are processed at the Vote Center. Voters of these ballots may have to be registered in our EMS system before we can count their ballots.  Part of this process is to verify that they have not voted anywhere else in the State if they were registered in a different county prior to Election Day.  Provisional ballots have to be investigated to determine that the voter is eligible to cast a ballot for that election.  

How can the media call an election for a candidate if there are still ballots to be counted?

What they are reporting is what is known as the "Projected Winner".  The media will use results that are published by state and local Election Officials along with other methods, such as exit pollsters and surveys, to make a statistical determination as to who won based on the number of votes that are outstanding.  Once it reaches a certain point where it appears statistically improbable for a person to catch up to the current leader, the media will make a call.  However, that result is not official until all eligible votes are counted and the election results are certified.  

What happens after Election Day?

Beginning the Thursday after Election Day, the office will perform the "Official Canvass of the Vote". There is a set of tasks that are defined by California Election Code §15302 that must be completed before we can certify the election results.  These tasks include:

• An inspection of all materials and supplies returned by Vote Center staff.
• A reconciliation between the number of check-ins on the electronic roster and the number of ballots reported on the ballot statement. This task is done on a nightly basis as ballots are brough back from the Vote Centers.
• Applying voter participation credit to voters who participated in the election.  This is done on a continual basis as Vote-by-Mail ballots are processed and voters check-in at Vote Centers. 
• Processing and counting any valid Vote-by-Mail and Provisional / Conditional ballots that are not included in the Semi-Official Canvass. 
• Counting any valid write-in votes.
• Duplicating any torn, bent, defective, or defaced ballots for counting. This includes ballots that are returned using the RAVBM (Remote Access Vote-by-Mail) system and faxed ballots from our Military and Overseas voters, if any. 
• Conducting a 1% manual tally of casted votes. 

The Canvass of the Vote will be worked every day until complete, with the exception of Saturdays, Sundays, and Holidays unless otherwise stated by the ROV and shall be worked for not less than 6 hours each day.

Once the activities listed above are completed, final results can be transmitted to the Secretary of State to certify the election and the results become official.