Orange County Elections Center held a public hearing at Irvine City Hall on September 25th to solicit opinions on the future four-year election plan. Many county residents attended and spoke up, with the majority requesting to abandon the current Voter Choice Act and return to traditional voting station methods, requiring voter ID presentation on the day of voting and counting.
Orange County Voter Registrar Bob Page stated, “From the draft hearing released on September 4th, people had 21 days to provide feedback through written submissions, online, or in person.” He emphasized that the Orange County Board of Supervisors had decided in 2019 that all future elections would proceed in accordance with the Voter Choice Act, stating, “So we cannot make changes.” As the election administrator, he would abide by state and federal laws and the policies set by the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
The Voter Choice Act allows for early mailing of ballots, early voting, and voting at non-residential polling centers. Mailed ballots can arrive at the counting center up to seven days late as long as the postmark date is not later than election day. Page mentioned that most of the opinions raised by residents involved California law, which allows for mailed ballots to be sent out or delivered up to 29 days before election day, with the ballot certification time frame set at 30 days. Despite Orange County having a shorter timeframe, they cannot certify election results early.
From July 12th to 31st, the Orange County Elections Center held 15 community seminars in various cities within the county to collect election feedback, with residents showing enthusiastic participation and speaking out. Elections have been one of the most concerning issues among the people, including verifying voter registration lists. In the 2020 election, someone successfully voted under a pet dog’s name, and the case is still under review.
Resident Linda Harris expressed, “I have been an observer and have seen the public’s confidence in elections declining.” She added, “The purpose of voting is to gain public support, but I don’t see the results promised by the Voter Choice Act, including increased voter turnout, reduced election costs, and improved ballot processing speed. We need to take a step back and choose effective election methods.”
Resident Russell suggested that Orange County could adopt a hybrid voting model like San Francisco, stating, “For Orange County, the election center doesn’t have to open 11 days in advance. Around 90% of the votes are cast in the final four days (especially on weekends), so Orange County can be more flexible.” Some residents pointed out that an 11-day voting period is a waste of funds.
Resident Linda Shepard noted that she collected 500 signatures from citizens opposing the Voter Choice Act, hoping to vote in person on election day with the presentation of voter ID. She criticized the lengthy, inefficient, labor-intensive, and costly voter registration process in Orange County, where a ballot may have to go through 20 people other than the voter for verification.
Resident Kevin Nelson believed that manually counting 1% of ballots had structural flaws and was insufficient to verify the accuracy of all votes.
Resident Boris stated that voting in person is the duty, responsibility, and right of American citizens and should be conducted transparently. He emphasized that time is money, and having a voting period lasting more than a day is a waste of funds.
The majority of residents had opinions on the California Voter Choice Act rather than focusing on Orange County’s election plan. The state law eliminates previous local polling stations and replaces them with voting centers covering larger areas. People can vote in other California counties instead of their place of residence or city.
Page noted, “We are soliciting public feedback on the election plan. Residents can continue to provide comments, with the deadline set by the Secretary of State being December 1st. We must submit the Orange County election plan (within the existing framework) before that date.”
Chinese resident Tim, residing in Irvine for 30 years, shared, “I and many friends appreciate the voting center model, which not only brings flexibility in voting but also provides support for multiple languages, helping non-English-speaking ethnicities to vote.” A Hispanic voter also expressed satisfaction with the provision of multi-language election materials.
Chinese resident James mentioned that the federal Voting Rights Act provides language accessibility for minority groups and hoped for more resources in this aspect. He observed that many people in university campus precincts register and use provisional ballots on the last day, leading to slower voting processes.