In summary
CalMatters is bringing its 2026 Voter Guide to life at more than 35 free, in-person events across California ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Here’s the full schedule — and how to host your own.
What’s good, California?
We can’t wait to see you again for another round of VotingMatters, our non-partisan voter education event series where people get together in person and engage in civic dialogue about the issues that matter to them as Californians.
In May, VotingMatters brought together communities over poké bowls in LA, neighbors debated the governor candidates on a relatively cool Bakersfield day, and over a hundred people showed up to support their local newsrooms in Davis and Modesto.
VotingMatters is an issue-focused series of in-person events we produce across the state with our partners, including local news organizations, colleges, libraries, churches and nonprofit organizations. Together, we host nonpartisan civil discussions about voting, policy and issues that matter to Californians. This September and October, we already have more than 30 VotingMatters events around the state, and we’re planning dozens more — with your help!
Here’s information on our upcoming events and how you can get involved. Check back regularly as we’ll frequently be updating event information. You can also get updates on our upcoming events in WhatMatters and our election newsletter.
We hope to see you soon!
– Dan Hu and Martin Romero
Fall VotingMatters event schedule
Event information is updated regularly and new events are added frequently. Please check back for the most updated information.
- Tuesday, Sept. 15 in Rancho Cucamonga
11:30 a.m. at Chaffey College (5885 Haven Avenue, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91737) - Wednesday, Sept. 16 in San Francisco
6 p.m. at the San Francisco Main Public Library (100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102) with the San Francisco Public Press and KALW – (register). Panel discussion. - Wednesday, Sept. 16 in Los Angeles’ Eagle Rock
11:30 a.m. at Occidental College (1600 Campus Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90041). Tabling event. - Thursday, Sept. 17 in San Diego with The Times of San Diego.
- Thursday, Sept. 17 in Stockton
12 p.m. at San Joaquin Delta College (5151 Pacific Ave, Stockton, CA 95207). Tabling event. - Tuesday, Sept. 22 in Rancho Mirage
5:30 p.m. at Willie’s Modern Fare (69830 CA-111, Rancho Mirage, CA 92270) with Coachella Valley Independent and Palm Springs Post. - Wednesday, Sept. 23 in Los Angeles’ El Sereno
12 p.m. at Cal State Los Angeles (5151 State University Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90032) with Cal State Los Angeles’ Pat Brown Institute. - Saturday, Sept. 26 in Orange
- Sunday, Sept. 27 in Belmont
At St. Mark Catholic Church (325 Marine View Ave, Belmont, CA 94002) - Monday, Sept. 28 in Redlands
6 p.m. at the Redlands Public Market (330 3rd St, Redlands, CA 92374) with Community Forward Redlands. - Tuesday, Sept. 29 in Montecito
5 p.m. with Noozhawk — (more information). - Friday, Oct. 2 in Lynwood
5 p.m. at the Lynwood Bateman Hall (11331 Ernestine Ave, Lynwood, CA 90262) CALÓ News and Southeast Los Angeles Collaborative (SELA) – (register) - Saturday, Oct. 3 in San Diego
11:30 am, with Voice of San Diego, in the KIPJ Theater at the University of San Diego, Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies (5998 Alcalá Park, San Diego, CA 92110) during Politifest – (more information). - Saturday, Oct. 3 in downtown Los Angeles
1 p.m. at the Los Angeles Public Library (630 W Fifth St., Los Angeles, CA 90071). - Monday, Oct. 5 in Modesto with The Modesto Focus.
- Monday, Oct. 5 in Watsonville
9:30 a.m. at the Cabrillo College Watsonville Center (318 Union St, Watsonville, CA 95076) with Santa Cruz Local. - Tuesday, Oct. 6 in Aptos
10:30 a.m. at the Community Foundation Santa Cruz County (7807 Soquel Drive, Aptos, CA 95003) with Santa Cruz Local. - Tuesday, Oct. 6 in Aptos
2:40 p.m. at the Cabrillo College Aptos Campus (6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos, CA 95003) in the Horticulture Community Room 5005. - Wednesday, Oct. 7 in Fairfield
5:30 p.m., with the Parent Leadership Training Institute of Solano (PLTI). - Thursday, Oct. 8 in San Francisco
5:30 p.m., with the Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California at the Toni Rembe Rock Auditorium (110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105) – (more information). - Thursday, Oct. 9 in Claremont
At Claremont McKenna College (Rose Institute, 888 Columbia Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711). - Thursday, Oct. 9 in San Francisco with KALW.
- Saturday, Oct. 10 in San Jose with India Currents.
- Monday, Oct. 12 in Fort Bragg with Mendo Local.
- Monday, Oct. 12 in Marysville
6 p.m. at Yuba College Marysville Campus (2088 North Beale Road, Marysville, CA 95901). - Tuesday, Oct. 13 in San Francisco
At Manny’s (3092 16th St, San Francisco, CA 94103). - Wednesday, Oct. 14 in Kelseyville with Lake County News.
- Thursday, Oct. 15 in Lafayette
With the Lafayette Library (3491 Mount Diablo Blvd, Lafayette, CA 94549). - Thursday, Oct. 15 in Eureka
At the North of Fourth with Lost Coast Outpost. Food included. - Wednesday, Oct. 21 in Chico
7 p.m. at Chico State (400 W 1st St, Chico, CA 95929) with NSPR, League of Women Voters of Butte County and Chico State’s journalism department. - Thursday, Oct. 22 in Marysville
2 p.m. at Yuba College. - Tuesday, Oct. 27 in Thousand Oaks with KCLU.
- Wednesday, Oct. 28 in Mariposa with the Mariposa Free Agent.
- Thursday, Oct. 29 in Fresno
3 p.m. at Fresno City College (1101 E University Ave, Fresno, CA 93741). - Thursday, Oct. 29 in Fresno
7 p.m. with KVPR. - Friday, Oct. 30 in Fresno
12 p.m. at Fresno State University (5241 N. Maple Ave., Fresno, CA 93740).
How to get involved
Co-host with us: Please invite us to come and do a VotingMatters event with your community! We have staff across the state available to do the presentation, we just need your help hosting: finding a venue, getting the word out, and ordering food. We’re happy to work with you to cover event costs.
Organize your own: You can also use our event kit to put on your own VotingMatters event – it’s as simple as getting your friends together for a house party, ordering some pizza, and watching and discussing CalMatters’ Props in a Minute videos! Our kit includes a slide deck, suggestions on hosting an event, an online version of our voter guide zine, marketing materials, and more.
VotingMatters events work best when friends and neighbors come together to discuss these issues among themselves, so CalMatters’ materials are designed to be educational and helpful for driving civil and informative conversations. You don’t need to be an expert on the election yourself – you just need to help facilitate a discussion.
Please email us at votingmatters@calmatters.org if you’re interested!
What is VotingMatters?
CalMatters is on the road until Election Day, on Nov 3, 2026, bringing our popular 2026 Voter Guide to life during in-person conversations across California through our VotingMatters event series
During this past May for the primary election season, VotingMatters brought together over 600 Californians for civic discussions from Riverside to Vallejo. At Contentment Brewing Company, a popular, family- and pet-friendly neighborhood brewery in Modesto, we brought together around 100 people for an event co-hosted with our partner, The Modesto Focus. We spoke with people from different backgrounds: an election worker who has worked 18-hour shifts during past elections, Fresno City College students voting for the first time and even a Santa Barbara resident who said he valued our governor candidate Q&A videos.
We hope you’ll join us this fall around the state!