Hearings Set on Voting Equipment Problems

Two members of the Orange County Board of Supervisors will hold public hearings next week in Irvine, Fullerton and Santa Ana to review problems that plagued the county’s first use of electronic voting equipment last month.

Voters and poll workers are invited to address the Subcommittee on Elections at 7 p.m. Monday in Irvine’s City Council chambers, at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Fullerton’s City Council chambers and 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Hall of Administration in Santa Ana.

Supervisors Chris Norby and Bill Campbell said they want suggestions to improve the voting system. Poll workers struggling with new voting machines in the March 2 election gave thousands of voters incorrect access codes, causing them to vote ballots from other districts.

Last week, Registrar of Voters Steve Rodermund certified the results of the election but estimated that about 2,000 voters were given the wrong ballot style, listing candidates for whom they were ineligible to vote, while other voters inadvertently submitted their ballots electronically before they were finished voting.

The supervisors’ committee will ultimately produce a report analyzing what went wrong and suggesting improvements to be implemented in the November election.