Join CalMatters at our VotingMatters events for the 2026 California primary election

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CalMatters is on the road all of May, bringing our popular 2026 Voter Guide to life during in-person, community conversations across California.

Our VotingMatters events are produced in collaboration with on-the-ground partners – local news organizations, colleges, libraries, churches and nonprofit organizations. Together, we bring people together for civil, issue-focused conversations that Californians have called “engaging,” “informative” and “democracy at its best.”

In 2024, across dozens of events, we heard from first-time voters at our 180-attendee Cal State LA event, saw landlords and renters – both still suffering in the aftermath of the 2018 Camp Fire – find common ground on Proposition 33 around at our event in Chico, and heard from KVCR’s executive director Connie M. Leyva who closed with, “Democracy, as messy as it can be, works when people engage and participate,” at our event in San Bernardino.

NOTE: Check back throughout the primary as we update this post with more information.

Noon Tuesday, May 5 in Tahoe City with Lake Tahoe Community College at the Lisa Maloff University Center (One College Drive, 96150)
6 p.m. Wednesday, May 6 in Sacramento at the Valley Hi-North Laguna Library (7400 Imagination Parkway, 95823) with Sacramento Public Library and California State Library
3 p.m. Thursday, May 7 in Fresno with Fresno City College at the Old Administration Building Room 188 (1101 East University Ave., 93741) – more information here
6 p.m. Monday, May 11 in Montecito at the Montecito Community Hall (1469 E Valley Rd., 93108) with Noozhawk
6 p.m. Tuesday, May 12 in San Francisco with the San Francisco Main Library at the Koret Auditorium at (100 Larkin St., 94102) with California State Library – more information here
11:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 12 in Camarillo at Institution Ale Co. (3841 Mission Oaks Blvd., 93012) with the Ventura County Star (food provided)
6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 13 in Los Angeles with Democracy Center at the Japanese American National Museum (100 North Central Ave., 90012) – register to attend (food provided)
5 p.m. Thursday, May 14 in Bakersfield at Imbibe Wine and Spirits (4140 Truxton Ave., 93309) with Kern Sol News (food provided)
Friday, May 15 in Redlands with Riverside Record, Raincross Gazette, Inland Empire Law Weekly and Community Forward Redlands (time and exact location to be determined)
4 p.m. Monday, May 18 in Fremont at the Fremont Main Library (2400 Stevenson Blvd., 94538) with Alameda County Libraries
Tuesday, May 19 in Vallejo with the Parent Teacher Leadership Institute (food provided), the event will include interpretation in Spanish (time and exact location to be determined)
6 p.m. Wednesday, May 20 in San Francisco at The Mills Building (220 Montgomery St., 94104) with KALW – register to attend
6 p.m. Friday, May 22 in Davis in the Blanchard Room at Stephens Davis Public Library (315 E. 14th St., 95616) with Abridged / PBS KVIE, Yolo Local and Yolo County Library
6 p.m. Tuesday, May 26 in Merced at The Partisan (432 West Main St., 95340) with The Merced Focus and Central Valley Journalism Collaborative (food provided)
6 p.m. Tuesday, May 26 in Fresno at the Big Red Church (2131 N Van Ness Blvd., 93704) with Fresnoland. This will be a special election bingo event!
Wednesday, May 27 in Modesto at Contentment Brewing Co. (208 Campus Way, 95350) with The Modesto Focus and Central Valley Journalism Collaborative (food provided) (time to be determined)

Host your own VotingMatters event

We’re making it easy for anyone in California to host their own VotingMatters event. We’ve prepared a kit that includes a slide deck, suggestions on hosting an event, an online version of our voter guide zine, marketing materials, and more. Whether you’re a teacher with a class full of students or an avid reader who wants to throw an election-minded house party, you’ll have the resources you need.

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.

If you’d like to host your own VotingMatters event, reach out to Sonya Quick at sonya@calmatters.org.