After long wait times at a vote center in Yorba Linda on Election Day, city officials are hoping to coordinate more with the county’s registrar to avoid delays and other issues in upcoming elections.
The City Council unanimously backed a resolution on Tuesday, Dec. 16, stipulating that Yorba Linda should assist the Orange County registrar of voters in identifying suitable venues for vote centers, which offer a range of services to voters on and in the days leading up to Election Day.
Wait times at the vote center at the Yorba Linda Library, especially on Election Day, were particularly long, Councilmember Tara Campbell, who put forth the resolution, said. While Yorba Linda generally has high turnout rates in elections, Campbell said part of the issue stemmed from a solar canopy project underway at the library that eliminated about half of its parking. The library is also rather busy in general, she said.
The only other vote center in Yorba Linda for the special election was held at the Canyon Center, a strip mall off Yorba Linda Boulevard that Campbell said might not be as familiar to residents as the library.
“My hope is that we can have a working relationship with the registrar of voters to find a location might not be the right one for right now,” Campbell said in an interview ahead of Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
“For the situation that we had with the constraints on the parking (at the library), I would have liked for us to suggest another location that was more conducive to the parking, but also a recognizable location for our residents,” Campbell said.
Yorba Linda wasn’t alone in experiencing long wait times at vote centers on Nov. 4, the final day for Californians to cast ballots in the special election on redistricting.
Data from the county registrar of voters show centers in Fullerton, La Habra, Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita, among others, also reported multiple instances throughout the day when voters had at least a 20-minute wait time.
“Yorba Linda Library had consistently long lines throughout Election Day, which is normal as most voters choose to vote on Election Day,” Aimara Freeman, a spokesperson for the registrar of voters, said in an email.
The Yorba Linda Library vote center served 1,635 voters on Election Day, the most of any of the 66 vote centers in the county, Freeman said. The Canyon Center location, meanwhile, served 1,096 voters, ranking it at No. 29.
However, the registrar’s office also noted that the last voter at the Yorba Linda Library checked in at 9:04 p.m. Yet, 24 other vote centers reported even later last check-in times, Freeman said. (While polls closed on Election Day at 8 p.m., voters who were in line by that time were still allowed to cast their ballots.)
Campbell acknowledged the long wait times were not unique to Yorba Linda. But it’s her city that is her concern, she said.
“My hope with this (resolution) is to avoid this for the future,” Campbell said. “Voting should be a top priority. We should hopefully make it convenient to park, to go in and vote, and to be civically engaged.”
There was no public comment or robust discussion from the City Council dias before the resolution passed unanimously.
Mayor Carlos Rodriguez said the last thing people want to do at the end of their days is wait in a long line to vote. “To ensure they (voters) have the best experience possible is a priority for us,” he said.
The registrar’s office said Yorba Linda has already confirmed a room in the Yorba Linda Library would be available to host a vote center for 11 days in the upcoming 2026 primary and general elections, as well as a four-day location at the Thomas Lasorda Jr. Field House on Casa Loma Avenue. The office hopes to secure an additional three locations for vote centers for those elections as well.
Campbell said the solar project impacting the library’s parking should be completed before the June primary — and she isn’t suggesting the library would not be a good location in the future.
“It was just this time. We weren’t expecting an election this cycle,” she said. “But we’re the people who know Yorba Linda. It would be helpful for us to give helpful advice on where to go, where it’s not going to be crazy on a Tuesday night.”
More than 999,900 voters cast ballots in Orange County, with 55.48% of those approving Proposition 50, the redistricting ballot measure backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and other California Democrats.
According to data from the registrar’s office, 29,164 Yorba Linda residents cast ballots in that election.