Drive-through voting? Casting ballots at the mall? While other counties struggle to get out absentee ballots and early voting in Los Angeles means queuing up outside the registrar's office in Norwalk, Orange County is pushing into the far reaches of voter convenience.
One can vote at the mall or the airport. On election day there will be special registrar "SWAT teams" within six minutes of polling places to settle any problems. And when the polls close, there will be live streaming video of the ballots being counted.
To help alleviate a crush of voters on election day, the Orange County registrar of voters has undertaken one of the state's strongest efforts to turn voting into an election season, giving voters as many methods and places as possible to vote before Tuesday.
So while Los Angeles County residents who wanted to vote early in person had to trek to the registrar's headquarters in Norwalk, more than 20,000 Orange County voters have cast early votes at a dozen locations throughout the county: city halls, universities, malls and even the airport.
And for one day only, they could register or cast ballots from the driver's seat at a drive-through polling station in the registrar's parking lot in Santa Ana.
"It's incumbent upon us to continually look for ways to make the process easier for voters," said Neal Kelley, Orange County's registrar of voters. "They want better service and we're trying to provide it."
Swells in voter registration and projected record turnout have election officials across the country worried about long lines, delays and shortages of supplies on election day.
Orange County's promotion of alternative voting methods mirrors a nationwide trend, with millions turning out before Nov. 4 to cast their ballots. Thirty-three states offer either in-person early voting or mail-in ballots. At least 40% of California's registered voters planned to vote by mail, according to data complied by the California Assn. of Clerks and Election Officials. Residents can vote early in person in 19 of the state's 58 counties.
Voting experts say Orange County is not alone in trying to offer non-traditional early voting locales. Communities nationwide are also setting up ballot boxes earlier and closer to home.
"More states are experimenting with alternative locations," said Paul Gronke, director of the Early Voting Information Center at Reed College. "There's voting at mini-malls, at Wal-Marts. They're very worried about problems on election day, so they're trying to spread it out."
