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Orange County registrar defends processes as Huntington Beach residents press for reforms
Summary
Bob Page, Orange County Registrar of Voters, presented security, signature‑verification and voter‑file procedures and answered extensive council and public questions about mail‑ballot handling, signatures, "dog" registrations, and possible reforms including voter ID. Page described daily maintenance, audits and a small number of referrals to prosecutors.
Bob Page, Orange County's Registrar of Voters, presented a detailed overview of county election operations and spent more than an hour answering council and resident questions about vote-by-mail, signature verification and voter-roll maintenance.
Page described the county's checks for chain-of-custody and equipment security: "Every piece of voting equipment that we use in the vote centers... is not connected to the Internet," he said, and he described sealed equipment, two‑person ballot-handling teams and GPS/photo proof for drop‑box pickups.
On signature verification for vote-by-mail envelopes, Page explained the county's multi-step process: "It takes three members of my team to be in agreement that there are significant differences...to be able to challenge that ballot," he said. He described the cure process (first-class mail notice and opportunity for voters to cure) and noted the county conducted a 1% manual tally audit this week and would not certify the election until statutory cure windows closed.
Councilmembers and residents pressed Page on specific allegations raised in public comments: missing ballots, ballots mailed to ineligible or deceased people, and the widely publicized Costa Mesa case in which a fictitious registration (a dog's name) led to prosecution. Page said his office refers suspected double‑voting or fictitious registrations to the district attorney and that criminal prosecutions have been rare; he said the Costa Mesa case involved a defendant who later admitted wrongdoing in a conversation with a local attorney and that the DA filed charges.
Many speakers at the start of the meeting used public comment to demand more transparency, a return to precinct-based or hand-counted voting, or local control of elections. Supporters of the county process also spoke, calling Orange County a model for election administration and urging public confidence in existing safeguards.
What was not decided: Policy changes such as requiring voter ID or abandoning county consolidation would require state law changes or separate local action; Page said he is an administrator and would implement legal requirements but does not take public positions on policy. "If that became state law, I would implement it," he said when asked about voter ID.
Next steps: Councilmembers signaled interest in continuing oversight and discussion; several said the presentation helped them identify specific follow-up requests to the registrar and county supervisors.
