Those interested in running for office across Orange County this fall can now officially file to do so.
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The candidate filing process opens Monday, July 13, the Orange County Registrar of Voters said.
On the local level, there are dozens of city council seats up for grabs across Orange County’s 34 cities, as well as 159 seats across the county’s 59 school and special districts.
That’s in addition to the eight congressional, eight statewide, 14 legislative and two county supervisor offices also on ballots this November, following the June primary election, according to the Orange County Registrar’s . There’s also a Board of Equalization seat up for grabs and two judicial seats: Supreme Court associate justice and associate justice for the Court of Appeal, 4th Appellate District, Division 1-3.
Additionally, California voters will have their say on 14 statewide propositions this November.
Eligible citizens can visit ocvote.gov/candidates to download and get started on their candidacy documents. Once those are finished, candidates must file their documents in person at the registrar’s office in Santa Ana, at 1300 S. Grand Ave., Building C.
The office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The deadline to complete and file candidate documents is 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7, according to the registrar’s office.
For more on federal, state, county, special district and school board elections that are on the ballot this November, visit the registrar of voters’ general election page at: ocvote.gov/elections/2026-general-election.
For more on city council and other local offices, visit your city clerk’s website.
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Some local tidbits
A court tentatively ordered Huntington Beach last month to adopt ranked choice voting for local elections. The ruling does not appear to have an impact on candidate nominations for the upcoming election, officials said.
OC Registrar of Voters Bob Page informed the city that ranked choice voting will not be implemented for the Nov. 3 general election, as the county does not have a state-certified voting system that can accommodate the change, according to Huntington Beach City Clerk Lisa Barnes.
As such, Barnes said, the city will be moving forward with the candidate filing period as normal.
Mission Viejo will have all five council districts on the November ballot.
Typically, cities stagger when councilmembers are elected, but a previous court order stemming from challenges to how the city was making its transition to by-district elections required all seats to be on the 2022 ballot.
No council election was held in the city in 2024.
To get the city back on a staggered schedule, the council decided last year that winners of the Districts 2 and 4 seats this November will serve two-year terms, while the others will serve traditional four-year terms.
In 2028, the District 2 and 4 seats will return to four-year terms, and the council elections will then remain staggered.
Laguna Hills, meanwhile, will begin its transition to district-based elections in November.
Late last year, the City Council created the map dividing the city into five council districts and decided that District 1, 2 and 4 would appear first on the November ballot — with the winners serving the traditional four-year terms.
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Heather McRea and Claire Wang contributed to this report.