Preparing for Election Day in the Country's Most Populous Jurisdiction

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Los Angeles County, California, which currently has more than 4.5 million registered voters, is the most populous election jurisdiction in the nation. Preparing for Election Day in a jurisdiction this size is a logistical challenge to say the least and with that day fast approaching, election officials have a lot to do to get ready—and they have already done plenty, including:

• Processing more than 250,000 voter registration forms. The county saw a monthly record of 150,000 registrations in September, due in part to the rollout of online voter registration;
• Sending out over one million vote-by-mail ballots—more than all the ballots cast in each of 17 states and the District of Columbia in 2008;
• Finding more than 4,500 polling places, more than twenty percent of polling places needed statewide;
• Recruiting and training more than 25,000 poll workers which is one-quarter of the poll workers needed statewide; and
• Providing election materials and bilingual assistance at the polls in nine languages.