The Orange County Community Election Working Group (CEW) is an advisory committee made up of volunteers from the community that provides input to the Registrar of Voters on minority voting, access of the disabled population to the elections process and the elections process in general. The advisory group also provides a forum for the Registrar of Voters to update the community as a whole on elections issues and promote community involvement.
We are required to maintain an advisory group related to disabled access issues. In addition, Section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act requires election officials in covered language jurisdictions to maintain relationships with the minority communities they serve. In Orange County we are required under federal law to support voters with limited English proficiency in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Spanish languages. We move beyond these basic requirements by expanding our membership to include a broad cross-section of individuals and organizations interested in the election process.
The working group consists of a Chair and Vice Chair elected from the group. A Secretary also serves and is appointed by the Registrar of Voters from the Registrar of Voters staff. Any member of the community who wishes to serve can submit an application for consideration. Members are considered volunteers and as such they are not eligible for any stipends or reimbursements. The CEW meetings take place two to four times a year.