On Tuesday, Oct. 21, politics editor Kaitlyn Schallhorn and Orange County Registrar of Voters Bob Page sat down to answer questions about California’s upcoming special election on redistricting, live on Reddit.
Redditors were told that they could ask anything about Prop. 50 and Orange County elections. In the end, Schallhorn and Page covered topics from late voter registration to local impacts from President Donald Trump’s executive order on elections to the projected timeline for election results.
Also see: Southern California’s guide to Prop. 50, the 2025 redistricting election
Here are some of the highlights. Some questions and answers have been edited for grammar, spelling, clarity and brevity.
Is it too late to register to vote on Prop. 50?
Page: Even if an Orange County resident missed the regular voter-registration deadline at 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 20, they can still vote in the 2025 Statewide Special Election as California permits same-day registration and voting, also known as Conditional Voter Registration.
New voters can fill out a conditional voter registration form in-person starting today at the Registrar of Voters (1300 S. Grand Avenue, Bldg. C, Santa Ana, 92705) or starting Saturday, Oct. 25 at any Orange County Vote Center.
After completing the conditional voter registration form, the Orange County resident will be issued a provisional ballot.
Before going to a Vote Center or our office to request a ballot, we encourage new voters who missed the registration deadline to register online, as it should help expedite the voting process once they arrive. Orange County residents may register to vote at ocvote.gov/registration. We have created a list of registration FAQs, including who may register to vote on our website.
If you have any questions on conditional voter registration and voting provisionally, visit our website at ocvote.gov/cvr or call our Voter Assistance Hotline at 714-567- 7600.
Isn’t Prop 50 democratic gerrymandering, which may take away voices from communities that will share districts with large population cities?
Page: I administer elections. I do not make political or policy statements.
Schallhorn: Gov. Gavin Newsom and those who support the Prop. 50 redistricting effort have been vocal that the idea is to counter other partisan gerrymandering efforts in Republican-led states.
You may have seen the recent news: North Carolina Republicans are the latest to push forward a redistricting plan to benefit the GOP. There, Republicans are considering a plan meant to give their party one extra House seat. As the AP reported, Republicans hold a majority in the North Carolina statehouse, and the governor is prevented from vetoing a redistricting plan.
Check out our Voter Guide to find out more on how your congressional district might change — and the impacts to Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Have you guys seen any impacts locally from all the executive orders? Or will there be impacts on access to voting in the future?
Page: The California Legislature or U.S. Congress would have to pass new laws to implement the provisions of the President of the United States’ Executive Order 14248 on Elections, issued on March 25, 2025.
Section 4 of Article I of the U.S. Constitution grants the authority to prescribe the times, places and manner for holding federal elections to state legislatures and the U.S. Congress.
The executive order lays out the president’s policy positions on elections, which are not actionable without the California Legislature or the U.S. Congress enacting laws to implement his policy positions.
The executive order also directs federal executive branch agencies and independent agencies established by Congress to complete certain tasks, many of which have been blocked by court orders.
Therefore, county elections officials in California will continue to administer elections in compliance with existing state and federal laws.
Schallhorn: Some election watchdogs warned that the president’s executive order could have implications on how California conducts elections, we previously reported.
Rick Hasen, who leads the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA Law, predicted the order would face legal challenges but warned that if it is held up in court, it could shift control over federal elections from states and Congress to the presidency. The executive order would “prevent only a tiny amount of noncitizen voter registration but stop millions of eligible voters, who do not have easy access to documents, such as passports, from registering to vote,” Hasen told us.
Another note, California is leading other states in challenging the president’s executive order in court. That case is still in progress, but if you wish to follow it — and others — you can check out our tracker of California’s lawsuits against the Trump administration.
What steps are you guys taking to protect voters from intimidation from bad actors who may be posing as masked federal agents, or actual federal agents on-site?
Page: We collaborate with local, state and federal law enforcement to ensure voters can vote safely and securely.
Law enforcement knows where all our voting locations are, so they can respond quickly to any disruption.
We have a Sheriff’s deputy or sergeant stationed in our command center when Vote Centers are open to help us triage reports from Vote Centers and dispatch local police.
The District Attorney also has a team that responds quickly to incidents, such as electioneering or voter intimidation.
Finally, federal law (18 USC 592) prohibits armed federal law enforcement activities at voting locations.
With all elections, we know it takes time to tally the votes. What is the projected timeline for OC to get reliable numbers back?
Page: Since 2020, the Orange County Registrar of Voters has reported the votes on at least 95% of all ballots counted from four to nine days after Election Day.
If more than 80% of voters cast their vote-by-mail ballot early or vote in person at a Vote Center, we should hit 95% closer to the shorter end of that range. All vote-by-mail ballots cast early and signature verified by Election Day will be included in the first results posted at 8:05 p.m.
But note that the first day all California county elections officials are able to certify their county results of the 2025 Statewide Special Election is Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025.
Urgency legislation, Senate Bill 280 (Cervantes), called this election and established the procedures for conducting it. The bill was approved by the legislature and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday, Aug. 21 — only 75 days before Election Day.
The bill contained two key provisions for the canvass of this election:
• All voters whose vote-by-mail ballot has been challenged for a signature issue will have until 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 30, to submit a signature cure statement.
• As a result of the above cure deadline, county elections officials are prohibited from certifying the results of this election before Tuesday, Dec. 2.
Ever since vote-by-mail ballots became a huge part of our post-COVID elections process, how has the Registrar addressed the real frustration people have in the time it takes to count them?
Page: I continuously message the facts about ballot processing in Orange County. We do not count ballots slowly. And our counting has not slowed since California law required counties to mail a ballot to all active registered voters.
Since 2020, the Orange County Registrar of Voters has reported the votes on at least 95% of all ballots counted from four to nine days after Election Day.
During the 2018 General Election, the votes from 95% of all ballots counted were not reported until 18 days after Election Day. This was due to the high number of provisional ballots cast in that election — 117,188 provisional ballots.
The adoption of the Voter’s Choice Act with Vote Centers and electronic voter rosters on poll books has significantly reduced the number of provisional ballots cast and allowed my staff to start processing them earlier. The most provisional ballots cast since 2020 was 38,804 during the 2024 Presidential General Election.
When California elections officials finish counting ballots is primarily a product of:
• The deadline for California voters to cast a vote-by-mail ballot to be eligible to be counted = must be postmarked by Election Day and received by the elections official from the USPS or other bona fide mail carrier up to seven days after Election Day
• When California voters cast their vote-by-mail ballots = some counties may receive half of all their vote-by-mail ballots on or after Election Day
• How many days California provides voters to cure a signature challenge to their vote-by-mail ballot = for the 2024 General Election and the current 2025 Statewide Special Election, California set the cure deadline at 5 p.m. 26 days after Election Day. Other states establish their own election laws.
Schallhorn: Another note: California officials are encouraging voters who wish to vote by mail to do so early.
Due to service changes this year, people who live more than 50 miles from a U.S. Postal Service regional mail processing hub who drop off their ballot in a mailbox or at a post office on Election Day won’t have a guarantee that their ballot will be postmarked that same day, they say. Instead, it could be postmarked the day after — too late for the ballot to count.
Does OC perform risk-limiting audits of elections?
Page: California law requires what is called a 1% manual tally. We randomly select at least 1% of all our precincts and hand count all of the ballots in those precincts.
During regular elections, OCROV also conducts a risk-limiting audit for certain contests that are wholly within Orange County.
I got a strange mail saying my registration was removed due to change of address but still got a ballot. I did not submit a change of address. What could’ve happened?
Page: I recommend you confirm that your voter registration is still active by visiting the Registrar of Voters website at ocvote.gov/vlt. VLT stands for Voter Lookup Tool.
I would also appreciate you sharing a copy of this strange mail you received by emailing it to us at ocvoter@ocvote.gov. If someone is distributing disinformation to discourage people from voting, I will ask the District Attorney to investigate.
What innovations or pilot programs are you most excited about for future elections?
Page: For the 2025 Statewide Special Election, we are piloting a way to allow same-day voters to cast a non-provisional ballot by assigning a small team to confirm the voter did not vote in another county.
We are also testing out a new way to process college students who are not registered to vote when they arrive, so they do not hold up voters who are registered.