One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.
4 in every 10 in Orange County vote by mail, and that number is increasing
A pile of OC ballots. An increasing number of people in Orange County are choosing to register for permanent vote-by-mail status. If the trend continues, it could save the county money.
(
Ed Joyce/KPCC
)
Listen
0:58
4 in every 10 in Orange County vote by mail, and that number is increasing
An increasing number of people in Orange County are choosing to register for permanent vote-by-mail status. They've been choosing to for several years.
Neal Kelley, the Orange County registrar of voters, said his staff sent out a record 650,000 vote-by-mail ballots this week. He said that’s a 50 percent increase since 2004.
If the trend continues, it will eventually save the county some money.
“But right now we still have to have the same number of polling places that we had almost eight years ago," Kelley said. "When we start to see those numbers increase, we can consolidate more polling places where there’s heavy vote-by-mail usage."
He said about four out of every ten people in the county now vote by mail each election. There are more than 1.5 million people registered to vote in Orange County.
“We have more voters in Orange County than 21 states in the country," Kelley said. "So it’s a huge county in terms of voting and it’s a huge operation.”
Finally, one more number about Orange County’s electorate: The GOP is still the top choice among registered voters, but Kelley said almost one out of every four is registering as non-partisan.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
