A Guide to Voting in 2020 Elections

National Elections

Currently on the U.S. National Election ballot is Senator Joe Biden (D) and President Donald Trump (R). Senator Biden has Kamala Harris as his running mate while President Trump is running with Vice President Mike Pence on the ticket.

The 2020 Presidential election is scheduled for Tuesday, November 3, making it the 59th quadrennial presidential election in American history.

While much of the news is about the presidential race, there are other seats in contention in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. A total of 470 seats in the U.S. Congress (35 Senate seats and all 435 House of Representative seats) are up for election on November 3, 2020, including two special elections for U.S. Senate (Election), so the ballot has a lot of sway. Also on the ballot are issues like property taxes, rent control, a ban on cash bail, consumer data privacy protections and more.

Voters have to be at least 18 years old on Election Day, but students can pre-register to vote at 16 or 17. There is a proposition created to allow (some) 17 year olds to vote (some of the time) in a primary and special election as long as they will turn 18 by the subsequent general election, but that has not passed yet. To find out how to register, go to How to vote.

It is possible to vote in-person, to drop off ballots at specified locations, or to vote by mail. In the Solano County area, there will be 15 ballot and 10 curbside drop off sites. If you want to find more on where the locations are you can go to www.solanocounty.com.

Local Elections

The City Council of Fairfield has authorized the transition of the city’s election system from at-large to by-district. Recently, the city council held four public hearings to receive feedback from the public on the ideas of the district boundaries, election sequence as well as overall transitions to district elections. In January 2020, the city council agreed to approve map 103 which provides for six districts.

The City Council has also agreed to have elections occur at the general municipal election in November 2020 for Districts 2, 4, and 6. They will continue to have a Mayor who is elected by a citywide election of eligible voters residing in the City of Fairfield.

Early voting starts October 5 and voters can drop off their ballots at the Registrar of Voters Office 675 Texas St. Suite 2600 Fairfield.