DECISION ’94 : Congress: ORANGE COUNTY : ORANGE COUNTY’S Primary Voters

In the June 7 primary election, residents will flex their electoral muscle and vote for Orange County candidates for the state Legislature, four congressional districts and the Board of Supervisors, among other ballot issues. Except for nonpartisan county and judicial races, voters will decide which candidates will face off in November’s general election. A look at county voters and their party line:

Voters by District Republicans continue to dominate Democrats in most legislative and judicial districts. A district-by-district look at party registration:* * Congressional Districts

District Democrats Republicans Declined to state 39th 37% 50% 9% 41st 28 60 10 45th 35 51 11 46th 48 41 8 47th 30 56 11 48th 28 57 12

* Senatorial Districts

District Democrats Republicans Declined to state 33rd 31% 56% 10% 34th 46 42 9 35th 33 53 11 38th 29 56 12

* Assembly Districts

District Democrats Republicans Declined to state 67th 35% 31% 11% 68th 42 46 9 69th 54 36 8 70th 30 55 12 71st 29 57 11 72nd 33 55 9 73rd 29 56 12

* Supervisorial Districts

District Democrats Republicans Declined to state 1st 45% 43% 9% 2nd 36 50 11 3rd 30 57 10 4th 38 49 10 5th 29 56 12

* Judicial Municipalities

Democrats Republicans Declined to state Central 39% 49% 9% South 29 56 12 West 38 49 10

* Numbers do not add to 100% because voters with other political affiliations are not shown here

Party Registration There are 1,153,694 people registered to vote June 7. Their party affiliation: * Republican: 52.3% Democrat: 34.4% Unspecified: 10.3% Other parties: 3.0%

Registered voters (In millions) 1986: 1.03 1994: 1.15

Turnout 1986: 38% 1994: 45%* * Estimate

How O.C. Compares How Orange County’s Republicans and Democrats compare to Southland counties:

County Democrats Republicans Los Angeles 54.9% 32.0% Orange 34.4 52.3 Riverside 42.4 45.7 San Bernardino 44.7 43.4 San Diego 37.7 45.1

Absentee Ballots Voters unable to cast ballots in person often vote by mail. Absentee ballots are usually available by 8:30 p.m. election night. Of the 120,000 absentee ballots issued for this primary, 71% are expected to be returned. * (In thousands) 1986: 25.7 1994: 85.0* * Estimate

Republican Strength Cities with the highest percentage of registered Republicans: Villa Park: 72% Newport Beach: 66 Yorba Linda: 62 Laguna Hills: 59 Laguna Niguel: 58

Democratic Demographics Cities with the highest percentage of registered Democrats: Stanton: 47% Buena Park: 44 Garden Grove: 43 Los Alamitos: 41 Seal Beach: 40

Declined to State Cities with highest percentage of voters declining to state party preference: Irvine: 12.9% Laguna Beach: 12.8 Laguna Niguel: 12.6 Lake Forest: 12.2 Laguna Hills: 12.1

Odds and Ends Orange County has: * Lowest percentage of registered Democrats, 34.4%, in the state * One registered member of the Environmentalist Party * 19 out of 19 failed recall attempts over the past three years * Highest percentage, 52.3%, of registered Republicans in the state

How Your Vote Is Counted As ballots are cast, they are moved either physically or electronically from more than 1,800 Orange County polling places to computers in Sacramento. * 1. To the Booth Voters show valid registration card, sign in and receive ballot cards; enter voting booths to mark votes. * 2. Casting Ballots Marked ballots are dropped into sealed box. At the beginning of the day, empty box is shown to first voter before it is sealed. * 3. As Polls Close Workers load ballots into boxes that are then sealed and signed. These and other voting materials are transported to 21 collection centers across the county. * 4. Moving Ballots From the collection centers, county drivers--accompanied by sheriff’s deputies--deliver boxes of ballots to the registrar of voters in Santa Ana. * 5. Votes Add Up Ballots are fed into vote-counting machines that electronically tally, then transmit results to Sacramento. Election results are issued to the media and the public. * Ballot Puncher In Orange County, votes are cast using a small machine to punch holes on cards printed with candidate names and propositions. Punch cards are the most widely used balloting method in the state. * Sources: Orange County registrar of voters, California secretary of state; Researched by APRIL JACKSON / Los Angeles Times