Council and consultant flag need for County of Orange cooperation on signature verification and ballot security

Council members repeatedly raised concerns about how Newport Beach ballots returned in county drop boxes would be handled and about access to signature‑verification data the county holds. Consultant Jessica Blair said the city has received public voter files but still needs access to the county's signature verification records to validate mailed ballots.

Blair said she would not mail ballots without a method to verify and count them on return: "I would absolutely not mail out ballots without knowing that we've had a way to count them and verify them when they are returned," she said. Staff and consultant discussed pursuing a process with the registrar of voters similar to what other cities have used for stand‑alone elections, while noting that county policy or the Board of Supervisors could affect that access. The council directed staff to pursue county coordination while proceeding in a phased way to avoid unnecessary early costs if county services cannot be obtained.