There are nearly 600,000 records in this state census, and each represents an entry in the local county electoral roll. While the information for each person may vary, California Great Registers 1866-1910 typically includes:
This record set of county electoral lists, known collectively as “Great Registers,” covers the entire state of California for nearly 50 years. Each county compiled these electoral rolls every other year in order to have a comprehensive list of who would be voting in elections. As a result, the names in this index are just men over the age of 21, since women were not granted the right to vote in the state until 1911 and the voting age was not lowered to 18 until the 26th amendment was ratified in 1971.
Use these records to learn new information about your family members and place them in the state during a specific year, a vital part of continuing your genealogical research.
Findmypast is pleased to present these records in partnership with FamilySearch, Intl.
You can expand your search by clicking the “name variants” box in the search bar. This will return more records with similar names, including those with possible alternate spellings or the use of initials or middle names.
Be flexible with the year range for both birth year and registration year. Birth information was sometimes recorded inaccurately or left blank so if your search is unsuccessful, steadily increase the year range. You could also try to find your ancestor in a different registration year if your initial search is unsuccessful.