To view California State Election bills in detail visit the California Legislative Information website.
To learn about Voting and Federal Election Laws visit www.usa.gov/voting-laws.
Voting
June 2, 2016 - Here's an important news flash - a new law in California allows voters to mail their ballot on Election Day. In the past, ballots had to be received "on or before" 8 p.m. on Election Night. Now, voters running late, can drop their ballot in the mail on Election Day and it will still count. An important caveat - it must be postmarked (or dated) on or before Election Day, and received in our office via mail delivery, within 3 days (by Friday, June 10, 2016) in order to be counted.
May 28, 2016 - We've been detailing for some time now about the facts surrounding NPP voters (how are poll workers are actually trained, what options and rights NPP voters have, etc.). So how are we prepared for NPP voters requesting crossover ballots? We are one of only two counties in California that can use electronic voting equipment, which means that there is an infinite supply of ballots in the polling place.
June 2, 2016 - Pursuant to California Election Code section 15360 (d) this serves as public notice that we will be conducting a random draw of 1% of our precincts in the June 7, 2016 Primary Election to be used in a manual tally of votes cast. This manual tally is used to verify the electronic tally of our voting system and the vote-by-mail tally system. The random draw will occur on Thursday, June 9, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. The manual tallies will follow the random draw and will take place until complete. Both processes are open to the public.
May 24, 2016 - It's important to remind voters to only include their voted ballot in the ballot return envelope (not additional ballots). Occasionally we receive two ballots in one return envelope - and it almost always is the ballot of the spouse, significant other, child, etc. When two are included it's impossible to determine which ballot should be applied to the voter in the household.
May 31, 2016 - If you don't have time to mail your vote-by-mail ballot no need to worry - we will have 1,052 polling places ready to accept your voted ballot. Two good things about this? You won't need a stamp and you won't have to wait in line - simply present your ballot to any poll worker in any polling place closest to your home, your work or wherever you are on June 7th. We've made it easy to find a polling place close to you - visit ocvote.com/lookup to enter an address - we'll see you next Tuesday!
Vote Center and Ballot Drop Box Accessibility
Every effort has been made to ensure all Vote Centers and Ballot Drop Boxes meet accessibility standards. Vote Centers and Ballot Drop Boxes that do not meet these requirements are noted on our website and in the Voter Information Guide. Drive-thru only Ballot Drop Boxes have posted signage with the address of the closest accessible ballot drop box location.
Your Ballot Return Options
June 11, 2016 - Last night we picked up the last of the remaining late eligible mail ballots for the June 7th Primary Election. New laws in California allow ballots to be counted if they were mailed on or before Election Day and are postmarked (or signed and dated) on or before Election Day. In the three days following June 7th we have received 13,828 in this category. Consider that in the past, prior to the new laws, we would receive about 6,000 ballots in a large election that would arrive after 8 p.m. on Election Night - meaning 6,000 votes would not be counted.