Newport, Costa Mesa head to the polls

Voting in the Newport-Mesa area Tuesday? Here’s some information you might need:

Newport Beach residents will vote on Measure EE, which would make 38 amendments to the city’s charter, ranging from a ban on class-action lawsuits to correcting typos.

They can also vote for City Council members in districts 2, 5 and 7. Although the city is divided into districts, Newport has an at-large voting system, wherein any resident can vote for any candidate — regardless of whether or not they live in the candidate’s district.

Newcomer Tony Petros is running unopposed to replace termed-out Councilman Steve Rosansky in District 2.

District 5 Councilman Ed Selich and Mayor Pro Tem Keith Curry, of District 7, are both running unopposed for reelection.

Costa Mesa residents will see Measure V on their ballots, which would establish a city charter, exempting the city from some state general law requirements and allowing it to set its own policies.

Residents will also be asked to choose three of eight City Council candidates: The major candidates are attorney John Stephens, businessman Harold Weitzberg, former Mayor Sandy Genis, attorney Colin McCarthy, Councilmen Gary Monahan and Steve Mensinger — and two candidates who are not actively campaigning, Al Melone and James Rader.

Incumbents Monahan and Mensinger, along with McCarthy, have campaigned together as the “3Ms” slate. In opposition, Genis, Weitzberg and Stephens have also campaigned together as a slate dubbed the “Top 3,” based on their randomly selected ballot positions.

Residents in both cities can choose between Republican Assemblyman Allan Mansoor (R-Newport Beach) and Democrat Bob Rush, a businessman, for the 74th Assembly District.

Also up for election is the 48th Congressional District, where Democratic newcomer Ron Varasteh is challenging veteran Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, with peak turnout expected from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Vote-by-mail ballots must be received by the Registrar of Voter’s office by 8 p.m. Or you can bring mail-in ballots to any polling place before 8 p.m.

To find your polling place and see your sample ballot, the Orange County Registrar of Voters’ website has a finder page. The office’s general website is ocvote.com. There, you can find information about specific candidates or other ballot items.

For election results, check out the Daily Pilot’s elections page: dailypilot.com/news/elections

jill.cowan@latimes.com

Twitter: @jillcowan