In Fall 2025, the Creative Citizens in Action team directed its energy toward democratic engagement. Through tabling events, campus-wide outreach, and a symposium on free speech and democratic principles, the team registered voters, turned out the vote for California's November special election, and created space for the community to process the results together.

CCA@CCA's Voting Coalition tabled at seven events between August and October 2025, distributing "CCA Votes" M&M treats, stickers, and QR codes linking to voting information. Highlights included National Voter Registration Day and Constitution Day tabling in the Nave (September 16–17), where President Howse made an appearance serving waffles and Librarian Daniel Ransom presented a pop-up library of books on creative activism. During the fall All Community Assembly, which was held on the same day, Interim Provost TT Takemoto encouraged the CCA community to register, use these resources, and vote. The series wrapped up with tabling at the Student Community Forum on October 15, and on October 20, the last day to register before California's special election on November 4.

Beyond tabling, the Voting Coalition deepened its partnership with the Student Affairs office to ensure voting information reached students effectively in places where they naturally gather. It displayed print posters across campus and themed snacks in Makers Cafe and the Double Ground lobby, directing the CCA community to the CCA Voting Resources page. Ballot information was also posted prominently in Chimera Cove and the Multicultural Resource Center — popular student hangouts. To make the most of the college's online channels, the President's Office sent an email to CCA staff, faculty, and students about the importance of voting, and the CCA, CCA Exhibitions, and CCA Student Affairs Instagram accounts collaborated on an election day post that was viewed nearly 15,000 times. And to ensure easy voting access, CCA's Blattner Hall served as a polling location for both the November 2025 California special election and the June 2026 California primary.

These efforts to encourage democratic participation extended into the classroom and broader campus community. On October 13, CCA@CCA co-sponsored the Defending Knowledge Symposium. Presented by Kim Anno's Citizens, Artists, Designers, and Journalists Critical Ethnic Studies course and co-organized with the Center for Art and Public Life and the Wattis Institute, the day-long event brought together artists, journalists, educators, and students to examine free speech, academic freedom, and democratic principles under current political conditions. Speakers included Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Thomas Peele on the First Amendment and media under threat; Dorothy Santos (CCA alum) on docu-poetics and subversive creative practice; Xiangqi Chen, director of Queer Chinese Museum; Jackie Francis, Dean of H&S, on art and history; and NYC artist Joyce Burstein on censorship. Panel discussions covered immigration, identity, and storytelling, as well as the embodied resistance practices of the Barbados Landship, and the program closed with an audience open mic.

The coalition's work continued after the election itself. On November 6, Janeece Hayes, Director of Student Belonging & Inclusion, hosted a Post-Election Recovery Lounge — a space for the CCA community to gather, process, and support one another in the aftermath of the vote.