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

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.