April 24, 2016 - Yesterday was exactly 45 days before the June 7th Presidential Primary Election. This is an important day as it marks the deadline under federal law to ensure all military and overseas ballots are sent. On Friday, the day before the deadline, we processed 284 ballots for requests received on Friday. We were in at midnight last night to ensure any military ballots requested on Saturday were processed and sent. Right before midnight 15 additional requests came in - great to know that our men and women overseas will be participating in this upcoming election! #beready2016
Voting
April 23, 2016 - Yes it's true, there are 34 candidates running for U.S. Senate. What's important about this? Keep in mind that you can only vote for 1 of these candidates - don't vote for more than 1 or your vote won't be counted - and we don't want that! This contest will appear on a single page on your vote-by-mail ballot with the candidates in two columns. It is clearly marked that you can only vote for "1" and that the contest extends onto the next column. Take your time and make your selection by marking one candidate - simple as that.
April 15, 2016 - We are proud to be working with the Council of State Governments and the Federal Voting Assistance Program on a pilot project to track military ballots through the USPS and militatry postal system (and back). Why is this important? Members of the military are sent their ballots starting at 60-days before an election. Currently they can track their ballot up to the USPS, but not through the military postal system.
September 16, 2016 - There's about to be some changes in the Orange County polling place landscape. Why? It all comes down to jurisdictions moving from at-large elections to district based elections. For instance, many school districts and cities are moving from legislative bodies being elected from throughout the jurisdiction to individual, carved out districts. This creates more areas where ballot types cross, creating the need for new polling places. Voters who have been used to going to a specific polling place for years may find that their polling place has changed.
August 21, 2016 - We are currently at 390 ballot types. What's a ballot type? These are the unique ballot "styles" that will be found throughout Orange County for the November 8th General Election. Depending on where you live will determine your ballot type - for instance you may have specific contests on your ballot (such as city council, school district, water district and special districts) while your friend in another city will have a ballot that looks completely different.
March 21, 2016 - We are preparing to send out ballots for the June Primary to Orange County citizens living overseas. This includes 1,345 active duty members of the military as well as 3,191 non-military citizens living abroad. Ever wondered what the top 5 countries are where Orange County citizens receive their ballots? 1. U.K. = 322, 2. Canada = 312, 3. Australia = 180, 4. France 174, and 5. Germany = 159. We will begin to send these ballots out 60 days before the June 7th election and must be finished no later than 45 days before the election.
March 17, 2016 - We receive questions about how the order of candidate names is determined on the ballot. For every election a random draw of letters is conducted, which is then used to determine the order that candidates will be listed. Today a random draw was conducted by the Secretary of State - here's the order:
1. Y, 2. L, 3. Q, 4. B, 5. E, 6. V, 7. J, 8. Z, 9. O, 10. F, 11. N, 12. T, 13. S, 14. W, 15. D, 16. U, 17. C, 18. K, 19. H, 20. M, 21. A, 22. X, 23. G, 24. I, 25. P, 26. R
March 16, 2016 - In the last few days we have mailed postcards to voters who have listed their party preference as decline to state, or No Party Preference (which means they are not affiliated with any political party). In particular these postcards, bright pink in color, have been mailed to hundreds of thousands of permanent vote-by-mail voters giving them the option of choosing a specific ballot for the June Primary election.
March 14, 2016 - Today Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley assigned letters to the local measures that will appear on the June 7, 2016 Primary Election ballot. The measures and assigned letters are:
December 7, 2016 - Pursuant to California Elections Code section 15628 the Orange County Registrar of Voters will be conducting a recount of the ballots cast in the 2016 November 8th General Election, Measure OO - City of San Clemente, Increase in "Hotel" Guest Tax contest.