Southern California voters faced long lines, sometimes waiting for hours on Election Day

Voters around Southern California faced long lines, sometimes waiting for hours, to cast their ballots on Election Day. 

In Orange County, the wait time was four hours at UC Irvine and elections officials there had to bring in a mobile voting center to deal with the turnout, according to O.C. Registrar of Voters Bob Page. He said the wait time was so long because poll workers were encountering many first-time voters, who take longer to register. Some voting centers in Ventura County also saw particularly long lines, with elections officials reporting at 6:40 p.m. that more than 28,000 people had voted in person on Election Day.

"The lines are long but stay in line," the Ventura County Clerk Recorder said on X. "If you are in line by 8PM, you still get to vote. Vote Centers will stay open as long as it takes until that last voter in line by 8pm votes!"

In Los Angeles County, more than 1.6 million people voted by mail while another 533,600 casted their ballot in person, according to the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. More than 67,000 in the county had already voted by Friday, elections officials said.

Amid concerns over possible threats to the security of elections and the safety of poll workers, there have been efforts across the U.S. to heighten security measures. In Southern California, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California has been leading preparation efforts, working with local law enforcement to prevent threats of violence to poll workers, violations of voters' rights and breaches of elections security. FBI agents were on call at field offices across the region.

In Los Angeles County, Sheriff Robert Luna said the law enforcement agency was prepared to respond to and investigate any allegations of elections-related crimes.

"Everyone talks about this election being so contentious, the anxiety going up," Luna said. "I can't tell you how many community meetings I went to where community members were concerned about their safety. So we want to make sure that people feel safe voting — that it's no different here in LA County than it would be anywhere else. Actually, hopefully it's better."