Riverside County’s Registrar of Voters is implementing new measures to improve the voter experience during the primary and general elections.
ANTHONY VICTORIA: The registrar gave members of the media a tour at the registrar’s headquarters Tuesday to provide a glimpse into what a voting center is like on Election Day.
REGISTRAR OFFICER: "Are you here to vote?"
VOTER: "Yes."
REGISTRAR OFFICER: "I’m going to need you to fill all this out."
VICTORIA: Once a person verifies their information with an election officer, they're given two clear choices on how to cast their vote.
REGISTRAR OFFICER: "Did you want to vote on a paper ballot or with one of our ballot marking devices?"
VOTER: "Um, let me do the paper ballot."
REGISTRAR OFFICER: "OK…"
VICTORIA: Registrar officials say the marking device helps translate ballots for non-English speakers and also assists voters with disabilities.
Voters are now also offered the choice to use a digital scanner to scan paper ballots. This allows the scanner to catch any errors before the ballot is submitted.
Elizabeth Florer is the registrar’s spokesperson. She says the scanner will help expedite the process.
FLORER: "So, once election day comes, the SD card will be put into a safe sealed bag and go straight into the tabulation room…that’s what speeds up the process."
VICTORIA: Florer says the device’s storage card handles up to 4,000 ballots.
Meanwhile, mail-in ballots are sorted inside the warehouse.
Leticia Flores is an election coordinator with the registrar.
She says workers inside the warehouse sort through ballots to make sure they aren’t missing signatures or damaged.
FLORES: "Our staff picks up the mail from the post office and brings it in mail trays. As you can see, we’ve received a few already."
VICTORIA: The Registrar says over 12,000 temporary workers will help support the County’s primary election efforts.
The Primary Election is on March 5
