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OC wants residents to weigh in on how to conduct elections
Monitors at the Orange County Registrar of Voters show election workers handling ballots that need to be processed in 2022.
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Jill Replogle
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LAist
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Topline:
Orange County officials want residents to weigh in on how local elections are conducted after shifting to the vote center model.
Why now? On Saturday, residents will be able to learn about the update to the county’s Election Administration Plan. Officials will share voter education and outreach programs and address topics like making voting more accessible, ballot integrity and contingency plans for emergencies. Residents will also have the opportunity to interact with and ask questions of staff.
The background: In 2019, the Board of Supervisors voted to drastically reduce the number of polling stations in the county from 1,200 neighborhood locations to 188 vote centers, with a push toward vote by mail. By moving to dedicated vote centers, the county offered residents more features: they could vote over several days, choose which location they prefer to vote at and register to vote at the last minute.
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The context: The shift toward vote centers came after former Gov. Jerry Brown signed a landmark voting overhaul package, the Voter’s Choice Act, in 2016. But the all-Republican O.C. Board of Supervisors resisted the change until 2019.
How to attend: The Registrar of Voters will host the Election Administration Plan workshop from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Huntington Beach Central Library, 7111 Talbert Ave.
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