They send out voter information guides and ballots, arrange to get vote centers up and running, train individuals to work at these sites and handle the logistics for the collection and processing of ballots.
Yes, we’re talking about local election offices, also known as registrar of voters offices.
And although having an online presence isn’t new, the registrar’s offices in Los Angeles and Orange counties have, to some extent, stepped up their social media game this election cycle, taking on a more visible role in answering questions from the public or dispelling rumors or misinformation related to the election or ballot-counting process.
“If questions, concerns or inaccurate claims are circulating online, we think it’s important that voters can also hear directly from us — the people administering the election,” said Michael Sanchez, spokesperson for the L.A. County registrar’s office.
Just last week, the agency responded to a post on X alleging election fraud.
The person had reshared a claim that tens of thousands of voters who supported L.A. mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt had their ballots rejected because of signature irregularities. It included a photo of a notice from the registrar’s office informing a voter that they either hadn’t signed their vote-by-mail ballot before returning it or that the signature didn’t match the one on file for that individual. The registrar’s office requested the person sign a form attesting to their voting eligibility, a process known as “ballot curing.”
Replying to the post, the registrar’s office wrote, “This is incorrect/deceptive,” followed by an explanation that in L.A. County, more than 9,700 ballots were challenged due to non-matching signatures and nearly 3,000 were unsigned.
“All have been contacted with information on how to respond and ensure their ballot can be counted,” the registrar’s office said.
And this week, Orange County’s elections office posted a roughly 30-second video to Facebook, with Registrar Bob Page explaining how his team completes over 125 tasks to ensure the election is secure and accurate.
One of the tasks, which the video highlighted, is an audit of the election results. At least 1% of precincts were randomly selected, and more than 11,000 ballots will be counted by hand to confirm the accuracy of the results, Page explained in the video.
“Every election, we try to add new things, new ways of getting the information out,” Page, in an interview, said, referencing the recent video his office produced discussing election security and accuracy in response to growing public interest in this topic over the years.
Overseeing elections in the age of social media — where misinformation or disinformation can spread like wildfire — is a concern for many who work in this arena.
Earlier this year, the Brennan Center for Justice, which is based at the New York University School of Law and whose research and advocacy work focuses on voting rights, election administration and criminal justice, among other topics, surveyed over 800 local election officials from around the country.
The majority (74%) of election officials surveyed said they were somewhat or very concerned that the spread of false election-related information online was making their jobs harder or more dangerous.
To combat misinformation and disinformation campaigns, local election offices are stepping up to provide the public with credible information.
“It’s important to be transparent, to provide people with good information, to try to establish ourselves as a trusted source about elections,” Page said.
The Orange County official said his office revisits its communications strategy each election. When he first arrived in 2022, his office ran some professionally produced videos. In 2024, they released “basic cellphone videos” showing staff members working.
This year, the office has produced vertical videos compatible with mobile apps — like the one of Page discussing election security and accuracy with footage of election workers auditing ballots — all in an effort to constantly improve public engagement.
Another note about public engagement: Page said his staff determines which social media posts to respond to based on whether it’s a question or someone simply expressing their opinion.
“If somebody posts a question on one of our posts, and we see an opportunity to quickly provide a little bit of information to help voters understand what we do, we’re going to take advantage of that,” Page said.
Sanchez, similarly, said a team of five people in the L.A. office monitors conversations online. They won’t respond to every comment but will engage “when we think it can make a difference.”
He said the agency has engaged with the public on social media for a number of election cycles.
What’s different nowadays is the speed and scale of information that’s being disseminated — and how quickly false information can spread, he said.
That’s where the registrar’s office feels it has a pivotal role to play in providing good information.
“If someone is confused about why ballot counting takes time, how results are reported, or whether a claim they’re seeing is accurate, we want factual information to be part of that conversation,” Sanchez said.
“At the end of the day,” he added, “we believe that helping voters understand the process is just as important as administering it.”