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What’s New
Orange County Registrar of Voters (OCROV) has made several improvements in 2026, including a new voter education campaign, expanded ballot processing capacity, and more room for the public to observe that work, which was made possible by $3.2 million in State funding received on Aug. 27. Your Vote, Counted 1st Our Your Vote, Counted 1st campaign encourages voters to return their ballot early to help get more votes into the count on Election Night. OCROV begins processing Vote-By-Mail ballots weeks before Election Day, as they are received. Vote-By-Mail ballots returned early are verified, processed, and ready to be included in the first results released after polls close at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The same is true however you vote. Whether you return your ballot by mail, at any Ballot Drop Box, or in person at a Vote Center, returning it early places your vote in the Election Night results and helps deliver faster results for everyone. Learn more at ocvote.gov/early. Bob Page Registrar of Voters |
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| More Space for Ballot Processing OCROV has expanded its ballot processing space in our Santa Ana office. Watch a video of this work on our YouTube page at youtube.com/ocrov. We’ve moved several staff to the second floor of our building and repurposed their former first floor office space for ballot processing. The additional room allows us to hire more staff to process ballots at the same time, expanding our capacity to move ballots through each step during the busiest days of the voting and canvass periods. The expansion also enlarges the area set aside for public observation, ensuring the public can watch ballot processing with a clear view of each stage of the work. Observation is open to everyone and no appointment is required. To plan a visit or view the observation schedule, visit ocvote.gov/observe. |
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| Automatic Signature Verification For the first time, OCROV is using Automatic Signature Verification (ASV) software for the first review of signatures on Vote-By-Mail ballot return envelopes. The process starts at the mail sorter. After ballots arrive, each envelope is scanned on the mail sorter, which captures an image of the signature. The ASV software compares that signature to the voter’s current signature in the registration file. The software only accepts signatures that are a high confidence match. Every signature that does not meet that threshold is reviewed by trained signature-verification staff. The ASV software cannot reject a voter’s ballot. If three staff members determine the signature does not match the signatures in the voter’s record, a cure letter is sent so the voter can confirm their identity by submitting a new signature. Curing a signature is a standard part of election procedures throughout California. During the first week of signature verification, OCROV audited every signature the software accepted. We confirmed the software worked as expected. The ASV didn’t accept any signatures that our trained staff would have challenged. We are auditing 2 percent of accepted signatures for the remainder of the election. ASV is not the generative artificial intelligence most people hear about. It is software similar to what financial institutions have used for decades to verify signatures on financial documents. Neighboring Southern California counties also use ASV software to process Vote-By-Mail ballots. |
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| Register and Vote in One Visit If you do not register to vote in Orange County by Monday, Oct. 19, you can still register online and cast a ballot at a Vote Center through Election Day. At Vote Centers, staff check your registration status as soon as you arrive. If you are already registered, you proceed to voting. If you are not, staff walk you through registering online on your own phone, and our central office team processes the registration in real time and confirms you have not voted in another California county. Once your registration goes through, you return to check-in and cast a regular ballot. The whole process generally takes less than 20 minutes. You can also register to vote online before you arrive at a Vote Center. Before you start, you will need an email address, a phone, a California driver’s license or state ID card, and an Orange County address to register online. OCROV first used this approach at the UC Irvine Vote Center, where provisional ballots fell from approximately 75 percent of ballots cast in the November 2024 General Election to approximately 25 percent in the 2025 Statewide Special Election. Building on that success, OCROV expanded the workflow to small number of additional Vote Centers for the June 2026 Primary Election, where pilot sites saw provisional voting drop by approximately 40 percent. For the 2026 General Election, all Orange County Vote Centers will offer this same-day registration and voting service. |
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| New Vote Center Hours Orange County voters have four ways to cast a ballot: return your Vote-By-Mail ballot by mail, place it in any of our 128 Ballot Drop Boxes, drop it off at a Vote Center or vote in person at a Vote Center. Remember, you do not have to wait until Election Day to cast your ballot. Vote-By-Mail ballots and Ballot Drop Boxes have been available since Oct. 5. For voters who prefer to vote in person, Vote Centers open Saturday, Oct. 24. Starting Saturday, Oct. 24 through Friday, Oct. 30, select Vote Centers will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. From Saturday, Oct. 31 through Monday, Nov. 2, all Vote Centers will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, all Vote Centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. At any Vote Center you can vote in person, drop off your completed Vote-By-Mail ballot, update your registration, get a replacement ballot or receive assistance in multiple languages. To find a Vote Center near you, visit ocvote.gov/votecenter. |
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