The primary election is officially upon us. On Monday, Feb. 5, county elections officials will send ballots out to the 1.8 million registered voters in Orange County.
As in years past, voters have several ways to vote, OC Registrar of Voters Bob Page said. Ballots can be mailed through the U.S. Postal Service, dropped off at a ballot box or delivered in person at a vote center. Voters can also vote in person at any vote center.
Orange County’s 122 secure ballot drop boxes will open on Feb. 5 and remain open until 8 p.m. on March 5. The boxes, individually keyed and anchored to the ground, will be open 24/7 until March 4.
On Feb. 24, 37 vote centers will open around the county, followed by another 146 on March 2. Unlike the ballot drop boxes that only allow voters to submit their ballots, vote centers provide in-person voting, voter registration services, replacement ballots and other general assistance.
The Registrar of Voters’ office will provide those services starting Feb. 5, Page said. For voters who decide to vote in-person at the Registrar’s office or a vote center, without the ballot that was mailed to them, that mailed ballot will be flagged and disqualified if it’s also submitted.
A list of where the vote centers are located and when they open can be found on the Registrar’s website.
The Registrar’s office has several measures in place to ensure election security, Page said. Physical security measures include bolting the ballot drop boxes to the concrete and having individual keys for all of the boxes that are made of thick metal, he said.
Other safety measures include using teams of two election workers to collect the voted ballots, tracking their vehicle’s location by GPS and requiring them to take and send photos to the office to confirm that they’ve closed it properly before moving on to the next box, he said. The ballot collection teams are given new, random routes every day for their safety as well as the safety of the ballots,…
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