What Orange County Needs to Know About June Elections

A California Recall Ballot for Los Angeles County. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Orange County residents’ chance to elect their leaders is just around the corner, with many impactful races in the mix, including Congress, the Orange County District Attorney, County Supervisors, judges, propositions, and more.

The first major date coming up is May 9, when all registered voters in Orange County will receive their ballots by mail and will be able to cast them for the June 7 primary election.

Ballots can be cast through the mail with no postage required or through 120 ballot drop-boxes opening across the county the same day.

May 23 is the next important day to remember, as it is the last day to register to vote in order to be able to cast a ballot for the June 7 primary.

Five days later on May 28, 43 in-person voting centers will be opening across the county, which officials are hoping will help disperse the usual election day lines, with all 180 full-service centers to open June 4.

Vote Center locations and ballot drop boxes will be available in nearly every Orange County city, as well as some unincorporated communities.

Because of the vote centers, registrar officials now explain in booklets mailed out to residents that “election day lasts 11 days,” combined with almost a full month of being able to submit ballots through the mail system up until election day (the ballot needs to be postmarked by June 7).

Residents interested in finding their nearest vote center can visit this ocvote.gov to find the best one for them between May 28 and June 4. They can either fill out a ballot at the vote center or drop off a ballot they were mailed or printed out on a computer.

California’s primary system works differently than some other states and is known as a “Top-Two Primary,” as residents can vote for any candidate regardless of what their party preference is.

For voter nominated offices, the two candidates with the highest votes will then move onto the General Election in November. This includes races of U.S. representatives, U.S. senators, State senators, assemblymembers, and State constitutional offices, where party preference is shown.

For state, county, or local offices in the nonpartisan primary, the candidates’ party preference is not shown on their ballot. In this case, if a candidate receives 50 percent plus one vote in the primary, they are automatically elected; while if that is not achieved, the top two vote-getters move onto the general election. These offices include county supervisor, county offices, superior court judges, and others.