Orange County Registrar of Voters

Very organized and well-​prepared place to vote during the election season. Tons of parking and friendly knowledgeable poll staff. I will definitely vote here next election.

The Registrar of Voters is the point organization for getting the public’s votes collected and counted. The ROV is the pipeline through which our democracy flows. For this reason alone, I am a fan.
The O.C. ROV is a pretty well-​run operation. I got my mail in ballot and Voter Guide book in plenty of time. The ballot and instructions are very clear. Since I wanted to guarantee my vote would not be intercepted or lost, I took my ballot to the ROV office and delivered it by hand. The office is easy to locate and all I had to do is hand my ballot to one of the employees. She took it to the on-​site ballot box, and I saw her put it in. I think I may continue to do this in the future since it is super easy, and I have done absolutely everything I can to make sure my vote counts.
I could devolve into a long-​winded diatribe about what this election means and who I support, but that is not the point of Unilocal.
The point of Unilocal is to share your experiences with businesses whereever you may be. In that spirit, I have to say that the O.C. ROV provides a valuable service to the community, and they do a good job. If you ever have a chance, thank the ROV employees who make sure each voter gets his or her vote counted. These are some of the unsung pillars of our democracy.

Voting is important to me so knowing my work schedule, I signed up to be a permanent absentee voter years ago. The folks at the Orange County Registrar of Voters send voting materials to my home like clock work and with plenty of lead time so I can try and make an informed decision about what and whom I’m voting for.
Once in a while, my life becomes too hectic to simply fill out a ballot and drop it in the mail on time, so I have two choices — 1) take it to my regular polling place, or; 2) take it to the Registrar of Voters.
Located near the corner of Grand and McFadden, the parking lot is huge here and the building, among a cluster of gray government offices, is not hard to find. The employees are friendly and if you tell them you have a signed and sealed envelope that needs to be counted because you’re an absentee voter who couldn’t get it into the mail on time, these fine folks are happy to quickly take your ballot, no questioned asked.

The local bastion of one of our most cherished rights as an American citizen, the right to peacefully induce régime change. Err, I mean, to go vote.
As far as a public service institution, it’s not horrible. Every polling place I’ve been able to go to since I’ve been able to vote has been fairly efficient, fairly well organized, and overall a not too bad experience. I know that half of this experience is based on the volunteers that man the stations, and the layout based on the space provided by whatever institution or group or individual that donated it, but being able to coordinate all of these variables is a fairly rigorous task.
Sure, you have to entrust your personal information to the government, but guess what — it’s most of the same information you give up when you register at the DMV, so no overall net loss for you «Off the grid» people out there.
Bonus points for using an electronic voting machine that has a paper trail. Makes me feel like my vote is counting.
So why only three stars?
Well, it’s not so much the Registrar’s fault. More that they suffer from having to answer to the CA Secretary of State, who in turn has to abide by federal election guidelines, yada yada yada. Having to have all elections go on Tuesday, making it purely voluntary (Hey, I *had* to register for selective service, they should *require* people to vote, but that’s my own opinion).
At least they implement (via the state) Early Voting. Maybe they and the other counties can team up and get CA and most of the other states to get it changed to Labor Day or something.