OC ballot drop box reinstalled at Amphitheater bus hub; Election Day is June 2

ELECTION SEASON

The 2026 Statewide Primary Election begins soon. Here are some important election dates:

• April 21: Ballot Drop Box reinstalled in Leisure World

• May 4: First day ballot drop box will be open to receive voteby- mail ballots.Voters registered by this date will be mailed a county voter information guide.

• May 18: Last day to register to vote in the statewide direct primary election.

• May 24: On-site pop-up voting booth will be available in the Clubhouse 6 parking lot from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

•May 26: Last day to apply for a replacement vote-by-mail ballot to be mailed.

• May 30: Beginning this day and until Election Day, additional vote centers will open.

• June 2 (Election Day): Vote centers will be open from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Ballot drop boxes will be locked and closed at 8 p.m. Ballots will be centrally counted at the OC Registrar of Voters’ Office.

Leisure World residents can:

• Mail their ballots via USPS.

• Use the official Ballot Drop Box, located near the Amphitheater bus hub.

• Vote in person on May 24 at the OC Registrar of Voters’ Popup Vote Center at the Clubhouse 6 parking lot.

• Vote in person at Fire Station 48 or the Los Alamitos Senior Center.

• Ask someone else to mail, deposit in the drop box, or hand deliver your ballot within three days to a vote center or the OC Registrar of Voters’ Office in Santa Ana.

Ballot Collection Requirements Elections Code sections 3011(a)(9)-(11) and 3017 govern ballot collection.

“Pursuant to Elections Code section 3011(a)(11), a person to whom a voter entrusts their vote-by-mail ballot to return to the county elections official must include their signature on the return vote-by-mail envelope as the person authorized to return the ballot. That individual is also required to provide their name and relationship to the voter. (Elec. Code, § 3011(a)(9)-(11).)

When a voter drops off a ballot in an unauthorized, nonoffi cial vote-by-mail drop box, no designated “person” would be signing, as required by state law. A person designated by the voter to return their voteby- mail ballot envelope to the county elections official within the required time period by law, must provide their name, signature and relationship to the voter. (Elec. Code, § 3011(a) (11).)

Additionally, Section 3017(a) (2) states, in full: “A vote by mail voter who is unable to return the ballot may designate another person to return the ballot to the elections official who issued the ballot, to the precinct board at a polling place or vote center within the state, or to a vote by mail ballot drop-off location within the state that is provided pursuant to Section 3025 or 4005. The person designated shall return the ballot in person, or put the ballot in the mail, no later than three days after receiving it from the voter or before the close of the polls on election day, whichever time period is shorter. Notwithstanding subdivision (d), a ballot shall not be disqualified from being counted solely because it was returned or mailed more than three days after the designated person received it from the voter, provided that the ballot is returned by the designated person before the close of polls on election day.”

Political clubs, campaign headquarters, candidates’ offices and churches are allowed to collect ballots if they follow the Elections Code. They must receive the ballot directly from the voter, sign the ballot in the voter’s presence and deliver it within three days to the Registrar, a vote center, an authorized drop box, or the U.S. mail.

The yellow of.cial ballot drop box is for the California primary election only. Do not drop off GRF or Mutual election ballots in the yellow drop box.

Have questions about GRF and Mutual elections?

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Crews from the Orange County Registrar of Voters reinstalled the county's offi cial ballot drop box at the Amphitheater Bus Hub on April 21. The drop box was removed in January to accommodate parking lot paving.

Emma DiMaggio