Orange County sets up pop-up voting centers to improve accessibility

With a walkie-talkie in hand, Jeffrey Kontorovsky mans the pop-up voting center at leisure world in Seal Beach.

For years, Kontorovsky ran his own business but as the pandemic restrictions loosened up he felt he wanted to do more. 

"I wanted to go out there in the world and do something proactive in the community," he said. 

Kontorovsky's wish was granted when the Orange County Registrar of Voters was looking for seasonal employees. The political science major applied for the position and was instantly hooked. 

"The essence of democracy is voting," said Kontorovsky's. "I wanted to see how the voting process is." 

Since the primaries, he and his team have given tours of the registrar's office and manned hundreds of pop-up events. Thursday is the crown jewel of all of their work. Kontorovsky and his coworkers have set up five pop-up voting centers throughout Orange County, one of which is specifically for seniors. Voters say the ease, convenience and kindness of the workers are top-notch. 

"These pop-ups, it's wonderful," said voter Roxanne Martinez. "Literally, I live across the street. I couldn't get any close than this." 

The pop-ups have several bilingual staff members with Kontorovsky serving as the on-site Spanish translator for seniors with a language barrier.

He said he'll continue his day job but this seasonal work with the Registrar's office is his passion that he'll continue for many more elections to come. 

"It makes the day for us that we're out here," said Kontorovsky. "And there are people who are engaged and we're happy to see them come out here and vote with us."