Observation Schedule for November 5, 2024 Presidential General Election
SANTA ANA, CA – August 28, 2024 – The public is invited to observe as the Orange County Registrar of Voters conducts the November 5, 2024 Presidential General Election. All ballot processing, counting, testing and audits will take place at the Orange County Registrar of Voters Office 1300 S. Grand Ave. Santa Ana, CA 92705. Observers are also welcome to visit Vote Center and ballot drop box locations throughout the county to observe daily operations.
The start dates for significant election activities are listed below. Daily election activities are posted and updated on an observation calendar on the Registrar of Voters website – ocvote.gov/observe.
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Start Date/Time |
Observable Election Activity |
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October 7, 2024 8 a.m.
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Voting Ballots for all active registered voters in Orange County will be delivered to the U.S. Postal Service for mailing. Voters may also visit the Registrar of Voters to be issued and vote a ballot. |
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October 8, 2024 10 a.m. |
Pre-Election Logic and Accuracy Test Accuracy testing of Orange County’s voting system will start with the preparation of test ballots and will continue until all devices to be used in this election have been included in the test. It is expected that scanning of the test ballots will commence on Thursday, October 10.
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October 8, 2024 1 p.m. |
Processing of Mail Ballots Mail ballot processing includes sorting, signature verification, collection and return operations, and duplication of the official ballots. |
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October 14, 2024 10 a.m. |
Counting of Mail Ballots Mail ballots accepted for counting are scanned. The votes on the scanned ballots may not be tabulated by the voting system, accessed by Registrar of Voters staff, or released until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 5.
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October 26, 2024 8 a.m. |
Vote Centers Open 38 Vote Centers open throughout the county to serve voters daily. An additional 146 Vote Centers will open Saturday, November 2. All 184 Vote Centers will be open through 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 5. Processing of Conditional Voter Registrations and provisional ballots can begin.
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November 5, 2024 After 8 p.m. |
Tabulation of Ballots The votes from mail ballots processed and scanned by this day and in-person ballots cast at Vote Centers will be tabulated by the voting system. Unofficial Election Results Reports will be posted at 8:05 p.m., 9:30 p.m., and every half hour thereafter until all Vote Center ballots are tabulated.
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November 6, 2024 10 a.m. |
Official Canvass During the Official Canvass, the Registrar of Voters continues to process mail ballots; accounts for all ballots that were issued, voted, and those that were not used; and completes audits. The canvass must be completed no later than Thursday, December 5.
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November 7, 2024 11 a.m. |
One Percent Manual Tally At least 1% of all precincts will be randomly selected at this time. It is expected that the hand counting of all ballots from those precincts to verify the votes tabulated by the voting system software will commence on Friday, November 15.
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November 8, 2024 11 a.m. |
Risk Limiting Audit Election contests to be included in the Risk Limiting Audit as well as the randomly selected seed number of at least 20 digits to select ballots will be determined at this time. It is expected that the hand counting of those ballots to verify the votes tabulated by the voting system software will commence on Monday, November 18.
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November 15, 2024 8 a.m. |
Post-Election Logic and Accuracy Test The scanning of test ballots on all voting system devices will commence to confirm that the system is still tabulating votes accurately.
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