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Vote Early: Ballot Drop Boxes Are Secure
All 128 Ballot Drop Boxes throughout Orange County are open and ready to receive your completed November 3, 2026 General Election ballot. Ballot Drop Boxes are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3. You can use any drop box to return your ballot – it does not need to be the one closest to your home. Ballot Drop Boxes are built with security in mind. They are constructed with reinforced steel walls, weigh more than 1,000 pounds and are bolted into concrete. They are installed in highly visible and safe locations throughout the county. Registrar of Voters employees go in two-person teams to regularly collect ballots from every drop box, exceeding State regulations. Starting Oct. 24, teams will also collect ballots from Vote Centers. All ballots are brought to the Registrar of Voters’ main facility in Santa Ana for secure processing. To find the Ballot Drop Box nearest you, visit ocvote.gov/dropbox. Neal Kelley Registrar of Voters |
| Current Tweet How-to complete your ballot for the #GeneralElection... |
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| FAQ – Who Can Return My Ballot? Under California law, you can return your completed Vote-By-Mail ballot yourself, or you can authorize someone else to return it for you. While you may authorize any person to return your ballot if you are unable to do so yourself, we recommend you only give your voted ballot to someone you trust. First, we suggest you mark your ballot privately, seal and sign the return envelope. Then we advise you to verify that the person you trusted with your ballot delivers it to the Registrar of Voters by tracking your ballot at ocvote.gov/track. The person you authorize must cast your ballot within three days, but absolutely no later than Election Day, Nov. 3 – by the close of polls at 8 p.m. if dropping it off at one of our 192 Vote Centers or placing it in one of our 128 Ballot Drop Boxes. Ballots returned by mail must contain a postmark dated before or on Nov. 3. |
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| Pre-Election Logic & Accuracy Test Ensuring an accurate count is one of the Registrar of Voters’ top priorities. A logic and accuracy test of voting system equipment and software is one of the many ways we ensure the votes on ballots are accurately counted. Before and after about 400 ballot scanners are used in this election, we feed test ballots through each and every scanner. A scanner will only be used if it accurately counts the votes on the test ballots. We began marking test ballots for the logic and accuracy test last week. Testing of the scanners started on Tues., Oct 6. After each precinct ballot scanner is tested, we assign it to a Vote Center and prepare it for delivery. This includes applying a numbered wire seal to protect the thumb drive that stores the cast vote records and a numbered plastic seal after the case is closed. Before each Vote Center is opened, a team of two customer service representatives will confirm that the seals are still intact and the number on the seals matches the chain of custody form for delivery. This ensures no one tampered with the scanners in transit. The pre-election logic and accuracy test is open to the public for observation. Those interested in observing can do so by visiting our office at 1300 S. Grand Ave., Bldg. C, in Santa Ana. |
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| Open House Recap Thank you to the more than 100 community members and staff who attended our Open House on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at the Orange County Registrar of Voters in Santa Ana. Throughout the event, guests engaged directly with staff, asking questions and observing live demonstrations that walked them through each critical stage of ballot processing, including:
The Open House is part of our ongoing commitment to transparent elections. The public is always welcome to observe our ballot processing operations. If you missed the Open House, you can still observe our operations throughout the election. Learn more at ocvote.gov/observe. |
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| How to Complete and Fold Your Ballot To ensure your Vote-By-Mail ballot is counted, here are some helpful tips when filling it out:
For more information on completing your ballot, visit ocvote.gov/voting. Warning: Creating new folding creases on your ballot can damage your ballot or cause it to be damaged when your return envelope is opened. The existing creases are created to avoid voting target rectangles to ensure proper scanning of your ballot. The existing folds also keep your ballot positioned correctly in the return envelope so it is not damaged when the envelope is opened. |
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