To: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Registrar of Voters
Staff Name and Phone Number: Evelyn Mendez, (707) 565-8564
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Recommended Action:
Title
Adopt a Gold Resolution recognizing September 16, 2025, as National Voter Registration Day.
End
Executive Summary:
In spite of successful efforts by the State of California and the County of Sonoma to increase voter registration, there are still many Sonoma County residents who are eligible to vote but remain unregistered. On September 16, 2025, volunteers and organizations from all over the country - including Sonoma County - will participate in National Voter Registration Day in an attempt to increase public awareness about registering to vote.
Discussion:
Every year, millions of Americans find themselves unable to vote because they are not properly registered. Common reasons for this include missing registration deadlines, forgetting to update one’s registration after a move, or simply not knowing how to register.
California has made great strides in removing obstacles to voting over the past 15 years by implementing online voter registration (2012), preregistration for 16 and 17 year-olds (2014, 2009), conditional voter registration (a.k.a. “same-day registration”) (2017), and automatic voter registration through the Department of Motor Vehicles (2018). As a result, the number of registered voters in Sonoma County has greatly increased over this time period from under 250,000 in October of 2008 to over 319,000 today.
Still, in spite of these efforts, there are a substantial number of Sonoma County residents who are eligible to vote but remain unregistered. For example, the California Secretary of State’s Office estimated that there were nearly 45,000 Sonoma County residents who were eligible to be registered to vote in the November 5, 2024, General Election, but remained unregistered (see “November 5, 2024, General Election: Voter Participation Statistics by County”).
On September 16, 2025, volunteers and organizations from all over the country will “hit the streets” for National Voter Registration Day with the purpose of reaching out to these voters.
Prior Board Actions:
On September 17, 2024, the Board adopted a gold resolution recognizing September 17, 2024, as National Voter Registration Day (Resolution 24-0373).
Fiscal Summary
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
N/A
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None
Attachments:
Resolution
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
November 5, 2024, General Election - Voter Participation Statistics by County