Election Day Underway After Over 20% of OC Voters Cast Early Ballots
JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
Poll worker explains the new voting process to voters at the Mission Viejo Orange County Islamic Foundation on Feb. 29, 2020.
By 
SONYA QUICK AND 
JULIE LEOPO
More than 90 percent of the early ballots – totaling about 354,000 – were cast by mail, after all 1.6 million registered voters in OC received mail-in ballots a month before the election. As of Sunday, about 10 percent of early ballots – 27,700 – had been cast in-person through vote centers.
The surge in mail-in ballots received before Election Day is in part prompted by changes to the voting process starting with this election. Namely, every registered voter has received a mail-in ballot and the county has replaced 1,200 traditional polling sites with 188 vote centers where ballots can be cast in-person days before the election.
Click here to read Voice of OC’s guide to all races on the March 2020 ballot.
Below is a photo gallery of early in-person voting over the last few days in Orange County.
JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
Tyrone uses the electronic pad to check in voters at a vote center at Warner Ave. and Fairview St. in Santa Ana on Monday, March 2, 2020.
JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
John Flyn, 41, checks in a voter on a slow Saturday afternoon at Las Lomas Community Park and Community Center in Irvine on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. This is his first election serving as a poll worker.
JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
Las Lomas Community Park and Community Center in Irvine, shares their parking lot with voters. A family strolls by to enjoy the park amenities on the afternoon of Saturday, Feb. 29. 2020.
JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
A Mission Viejo voter fills out a ballot at the Orange County Islamic Foundation on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020.
JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
The empty voting booths midday at a Santa Ana vote center.
JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
A poll worker waits for voters on quiet afternoon on Saturday Feb. 29 2020 in Mission Viejo.
JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
The final step of casting a ballot requires the voter to scan their ballot, facing either way, and it is electronically processed.
JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
Jaime Wipe, 65, plays some basketball outside of a voting center at El Salvador Park. He casted his vote in Costa Mesa.
JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
The entrance to the voting center located in a strip mall in Santa Ana on the corner of Warner and Fairview.
JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
A voting sticker is provided for all voters.