Today, Tuesday, November 3, is Election Day. Vote centers across Los Angeles County are open until 8:00 p.m., ballot drop boxes close at 8:00 p.m., and a mail ballot postmarked today still counts if it arrives within seven days. If you are not registered, you can still register and cast a ballot at any county vote center today. Pasadena Transit and Pasadena Dial-A-Ride are carrying riders free today.
It is a long ballot. Here is what is on it for Pasadena and Altadena voters, which decisions will have the most significant impact, and where to watch the results tonight.
The biggest local call: Pasadena’s Measure PFD
For City of Pasadena voters, the single most consequential item is Measure PFD, the proposed parcel tax for fire and emergency services. It would levy 19 cents per square foot of improved property per year for 14 years — about $22.1 million a year, dedicated to fire protection, paramedic and 911 response, wildfire and earthquake preparedness, recruiting and retaining firefighters, and life-saving equipment and fire alert communications. Low-income seniors would be exempt, and the measure requires audits, oversight and public disclosure of spending. Because it is a special tax, it needs a two-thirds vote to pass.
The math for a homeowner is simple: a 1,300-square-foot home would pay roughly $247 a year; a 2,000-square-foot home, about $380 a year — for 14 years. Supporters, who include Mayor Victor Gordo, State Senator Sasha Renée Pérez, County Supervisor Kathryn Barger and the Pasadena Firefighters Association, argue the Fire Department needs dedicated, stable funding after the Eaton Fire exposed how thin emergency services are stretched. Critics answer that Pasadena property owners — many still carrying fire recovery costs — are being asked to take on one more long-term charge. A “yes” vote enacts the tax; a “no” vote rejects it. Either way, the two-thirds threshold means the outcome may not be clear on election night.
If you vote in Altadena
Altadena is unincorporated county territory, so Measure PFD is not on your ballot. Your most local choices are the Altadena Library District’s Trustee Area 3 seat — Stephanie A. Capps, Samuel Mistrano and Steven M. McCall are the candidates on the County Registrar’s list — at a moment when the district’s Main Library has been closed for renovation since February and the board oversees that project and the district’s budget. Altadena voters also share the school board, county and state choices below.
School boards
Pasadena Unified School District voters — the district covers Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre — are electing board members in Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7. In District 1, incumbent Kimberly Kenne faces Felita R. Kealing, an Altadena resident and longtime PUSD employee whose family lost their home in the Eaton Fire. The Pasadena Area Community College District also has three trustee seats on the ballot. These boards decide budgets, rebuilding priorities and consolidation questions that will shape local schools for years, and they are usually decided by a small number of votes.
County-wide: Measures A and E, and the Sheriff
Measure A would amend the County Charter so that when contract talks between the county and its public safety unions — firefighters, deputy sheriffs, lifeguards and some other public safety employees — reach an impasse, a three-member arbitration panel makes the final decision instead of the Board of Supervisors. It would also bar strikes by the covered employees. Its impact is financial as much as labor-related: it changes who has the last word on some of the county’s largest labor costs.
Measure E would write an independent County Ethics Commission into the charter — seven commissioners, with power to investigate and fine violations of ethics, lobbying and campaign finance laws, and a guaranteed budget of at least $14.3 million a year starting in 2027–28. It also preserves the county’s commitment to set aside at least 10 percent of locally generated unrestricted revenue for community investment and alternatives to incarceration — the Measure J commitment that 2024’s Measure G inadvertently repealed.
County voters are also choosing a Sheriff, in the race between incumbent Robert Luna and former sheriff Alex Villanueva, along with judges and other county offices.
Statewide: a new governor and 14 propositions
California is electing a new governor as Gavin Newsom reaches his term limit — Democrat Xavier Becerra faces Republican Steve Hilton — plus every other statewide office and all U.S. House seats.
There are 14 statewide propositions. The two with the largest price tags are both about housing: Proposition 1, an $11.25 billion general obligation bond for affordable housing and veterans’ home loans, and Proposition 37, $25 billion in CalHFA revenue bonds to fund fixed-rate second mortgages on newly built homes. Also on the list is Proposition 4, the California Fair Elections Act, which would bring public financing to state campaigns.
Where to watch the results tonight
No results are released before the polls close at 8:00 p.m. The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s official schedule for tonight: the first results, at about 8:30–8:45 p.m., will be the mail ballots received before Election Day; a second release at about 8:45–9:00 p.m. adds ballots cast early at vote centers; Election Day ballots follow after 9:00 p.m., with semi-final results once every vote center’s ballots are counted. Counting then continues for days — the county plans updates at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on November 4–6, and is scheduled to certify results on November 27. Close contests, especially any measure needing two-thirds, may not be settled tonight.
- L.A. County official live results — the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s results page, including Measure PFD, the county measures and the school board races.
- California Secretary of State election results — statewide races and all 14 propositions, with results posting from 8:00 p.m. at electionresults.sos.ca.gov.
- Ballotpedia’s Measure PFD page — the full measure text, what yes and no mean, and the supporter list.
Sources: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, November 3, 2026 General Election media guide and results pages; California Secretary of State Official Voter Information Guide; City of Pasadena City Clerk, General Election 2026 notice; Ballotpedia, Measure PFD and Los Angeles County measures.
