Orange County mails 1.9 million ballots

Orange County sent 1.9 million ballots to registered voters this week as elections officials outlined safeguards for securing and counting votes, Voice of OC reported.

The county’s procedures are drawing attention as ballots go out and as Proposition 39 could change voter identification requirements if approved.

Orange County Registrar of Voters Bob Page said the county completes more than 125 safety steps designed to protect election security and accuracy, according to Voice of OC.

"We work very hard to make sure every election is secure and accurate," Page, the Orange County registrar of voters, told Voice of OC.

The county uses paper ballots and keeps its vote-tallying system offline from the internet, Voice of OC reported. At least 1% of randomly selected precincts are hand-counted to check electronic results.

Page said election software is also controlled between elections. "After every election, the voting system software is removed from every piece of equipment," Page told Voice of OC.

Returned ballots are picked up by background-checked, two-person teams using tracking and chain-of-custody procedures, according to Voice of OC. Election workers scan envelopes and compare signatures with voter registration records, and voters are notified if a mismatch must be resolved.

The final count is conducted on an air-gapped system in a secure room with limited physical access, Voice of OC reported. Page said the county verifies software hash codes against the certified original before elections.

Proposition 39 would require in-person voters to show government-issued identification and vote-by-mail voters to provide the last four digits of a designated government-issued identification number. "If it passes and becomes law, we’ll figure out how to do it," Page told Voice of OC.