Due to this year’s unprecedented circumstances regarding the coronavirus pandemic, Orange County’s general election may look different than past elections. With new methods of no-contact voting this year, the Orange County Registrar of Voters will offer registered voters various opportunities to cast their ballots safely and securely. Voters will have either a five-day in-person period to submit their ballot – from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3 – or a 30-day mail period to submit their ballot – from Oct. 5 to Nov. 3.

This information comes from Roxana Castro, a community program specialist at the Orange County Registrar of Voters, who spoke at a Chapman Civic Engagement Zoom event Sept. 8. While every Orange County resident will automatically receive a vote-by-mail (VBM) ballot, four new voting methods – including drop boxes, remote accessible VBM, drive-thru ballot drop off and drive-thru voting – will ensure a minimum amount of contact for voters. Standard VBM using the U.S. Postal Service will also be available, in addition to in-person voting at the approximately 170 vote center locations across Orange County. 

“Every registered voter will get a ballot in the mail and then they have choices on how to return it,” Castro said. “They can return with the U.S. postal offices, at a vote center or at a ballot drop box. There are multiple options because convenience is really what we are striving for.”

Various Orange County vote centers, which will operate from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3, will provide the bulk of the new voting methods. The drive-thru ballot drop-off method, available at 30 vote center locations, allows voters to cast the ballot they received in the mail and filled out at home, all without getting out of their car. However, drive-thru voting will allow registered voters to request a ballot on arrival at a vote center, fill it out in their car and cast the ballot without exiting the vehicle.

If voters wish to avoid vote centers entirely, they still have two options: voting drop boxes and remote-accessible VBM. Approximately 116 military-grade, locked drop boxes will be available in various locations across Orange County starting Oct. 5, the same day as mail-in voting opens. Voters can drop off ballots in these boxes at any time of the day up until 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.

Remote-accessible VBM ballots provide Orange County citizens a method of receiving their ballot at home. Although these ballots were previously only available to voters with disabilities or voters overseas, any Orange County voter can request an electronic ballot to be sent to their email this year. They then mark the ballot on their computer, print it out and cast their ballot with any method they choose.

Orange will host six ballot drop boxes and nine vote centers throughout the city, with one vote center stationed at the Chapman Argyros Forum. The Orange County Registrar of Voters website has an online locator tool indicating all vote centers, drive-thru vote centers, pop-up voting stations and ballot drop boxes.

Chapman’s Cross-Cultural Center Program Coordinator Tim Topper is part of the Civic Engagement Initiatives team and told The Panther he encourages Chapman students to be both registered voters and educated voters before making any polling decisions.

“To say this year is important for all registered and eligible Chapman students to cast their vote is an understatement, as many things on the ballot this year will have an impact on Chapman students and their communities for years to come,” Topper said.

While vote centers offer various methods for casting ballots, new technology provides voters with the ability to register to vote on-location if they miss the Oct. 19 deadline. According to Castro, voters can also update their address, change their party listing or receive a replacement ballot, even on election day.

“(Vote centers) are not just locations to go and vote,” Castro said. “You can do so many other things there since we are able to be directly connected to our voter database from our vote centers for the first time.”

As the days leading up to Nov. 3 draw nearer with a vaccine for the coronavirus not anticipated to be released until next year, health and safety services at vote centers have increased dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to new site layouts that maintain physical distancing, Castro said vote centers, especially high-touch surfaces, will undergo vigorous sanitization throughout the day and between each new voter.

In addition to safety, vote center security ranks as a top priority. The electronic check-in at each vote center provides real-time updates to the voting office, ensuring no person votes twice at two different vote centers.

“We work very closely with many (sectors of) law enforcement, in particular Homeland Security,” Castro said. “Since elections are considered critical infrastructure, our data encryption is also secure and we use the same security as local law enforcement.”

Castro added that although past elections typically function entirely through a volunteer base, approximately 1,200 hired, professional staff will ensure safety and health protocols during the voting window this year. In-person voting is open for five days, but the Orange County Registrar of Voters encourages people to vote as soon as possible.

“We really want to work together on college campuses to promote voting early, especially now that we have to ensure great safety while casting your ballot,” Castro said.