A college student’s guide to the 2024 California, Orange County, and Mission Viejo propositions

A model of the voting drop-off boxes in Orange County. | Orange County Registrar of Voters

In case you’ve been living under a rock, the 2024 election is fast approaching. Election Day, Nov. 5, is just about a week away.

In theory, voting should be easy, should it not? But there are just so many different options and sometimes it can be hard to find the research you need to make an informed decision.

So, as a way of multi-tasking, I have conducted my own research into all of these candidates and propositions to help me decide my votes, and to hopefully help you as well.

However, before making any decisions, it’s important to check your voter registration status. California residents can do this at https://registertovote.ca.gov/.

In Orange County, in-person voting will open Nov. 2 (with the exception of Mission Viejo City Hall’s voting center, which opens on Oct. 26). They will be open on Election Day, Nov. 5, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (depending on each poll location).

In Mission Viejo, there will be seven in-person voting locations: Mission Viejo City Hall, Fairhaven Memorial Services, Mission Viejo Church of Christ, Montanoso Recreation Center, Norman P. Murray Community & Senior Center, Orange County Islamic Foundation, and the Saddleback Valley Unified School District building.

There are several options to vote at home, with deadlines for receiving votes adhering to the same schedule as in-person voting. Paper ballots have already been mailed out to registered Orange County voters.

To return your ballot, you can mail it by following the instructions sent with the ballot. You can track your ballot in the mail with ocvote.gov. You can also bring it in-person to one of the city’s voting centers listed above.

Another option would be to put your ballot in a ballot drop box by 8 p.m. on Nov. 5. There are three ballot drop boxes in Mission Viejo: Florence Joyner Olympiad Park (drive-up only), Norman P. Murray Community Center and Pavion Park.

Now to the ballot itself. This will go over the state, county, and city propositions being voted upon this election season, and provide access to more detailed information.

Propositions

• Prop. 2

• • • Title: “Authorizes bonds for public school and community college facilities. Legislative statute.”
    • Explanation: This would allow California to use $10 billion for the “repair, upgrade, and construction” of facilities at California public schools (including K-12 and charter schools, community colleges, and CTE programs). This is just allowing the state to obtain bonds. This would be a new California law.
    • More (simplified) information: CalMatters Voter Guide; The Sacramento Bee

• Prop. 3

• • • Title: “Constitutional right to marriage. Legislative constitutional amendment.”
    • Explanation: This reaffirms the constitutional right to same-sex marriage, by changing the language in the California State constitution. Same-sex marriage was federally legalized in 2015, by the Supreme Court. It will not alter the already established marriage rights, but will change language to protect those rights within the state of California.
    • More (simplified) information: CalMatters Voter Guide; ABC 10 News

• Prop. 4

• • • Title: “Authorizes bonds for safe drinking water, wildfire prevention, and protecting communities and natural lands from climate risks. Legislative statute.”
    • Explanation: It will use $10 billion from bonds for improving drinking water sources, protecting areas from floods and droughts, restoring natural water sources, coastal land protection, wildfire prevention, parks and natural lands projects, clean energy projects, and farming projects. This will add to California’s debt by $10 billion.
    • More (simplified) information: CalMatters Voter Guide; LA Times Editorial

• Prop. 5

• • • Title: “Allows local bonds for affordable housing and public infrastructure with 55% voter approval. Legislative constitutional amendment.”
    • Explanation: California currently has laws in place that require at least two-thirds voter approval for Californian city and county governments to borrow money. This would change language in the California constitution to make it so only 55% of the votes would approve borrowing money, such as for public infrastructure projects.
    • More (simplified) information: CalMatters Voter Guide; LA Times Editorial

• Prop. 6

• • • Title: “Eliminates constitutional provision allowing involuntary servitude for incarcerated persons. Legislative constitutional amendment.”
    • Explanation: This proposition would eliminate laws currently in place that make it legal for the state of California to assign prison inmates with involuntary work and punish those who refuse the work. This proposition would make it so inmates could volunteer for work in exchange for time off, as well as allow smaller county and city governments to set up a pay system for inmates.
    • More (simplified) information: CalMatters Voter Guide; LA Times Editorial

• Prop. 32

• • • Title: “Raises minimum wage. Initiative statute.”
    • Explanation: The current basic minimum wage in California is $16 per hour, with $20 for fast food workers, $21 for most healthcare workers, and $23 for dialysis and larger healthcare facilities. This would immediately raise the basic minimum wage to $17 for the rest of the year, followed by raising it to $18 in January (small businesses would get this raise delayed by a year).
    • More (simplified) information: CalMatters Voter Guide; LA Times Editorial

• Prop. 33

• • • Title: “Expands local governments’ authority to enact rent control on residential property. Initiative statute.”
    • Explanation: This would allow Californian cities to enact rent control on all housing within their local governments. There are currently local city laws in place that restrict rent control, so cities cannot enact it on certain types of homes or homes built after a certain year.
    • More (simplified) information: CalMatters Voter Guide; LA Times

• Prop. 34

• • • Title: “Restricts spending of prescriptive drug revenues by certain health care providers. Initiative statute.”
    • Explanation: This proposition would require healthcare providers that spend at least $100 million on things other than direct patient care and other providers to spend at least 98% of their revenue from prescription drug sales on that direct patient care. This would not apply to most healthcare providers.
    • More (simplified) information: CalMatters Voter Guide; LA Times Editorial

• Prop. 35

• • • Title: “Provides permanent funding for Medi-Cal health care services. Initiative statute.”
    • Explanation: There are currently taxes on Medi-Cal public insurance programs. This proposition would require the state to spend the money from the taxes on different areas of patient care, and it would protect the source of revenue for these services.
    • More (simplified) information: CalMatters Voter Guide; California Budget & Policy Center

• Prop. 36

• • • Title: “Allows felony charges and increases sentences for certain drug and theft crimes. Initiative statute.”
    • Explanation: This proposition would relabel crimes that are currently misdemeanor thefts and drug crimes as felonies, and would make it so those who do drug treatment instead of prison would have to go to prison if they do not follow through with their treatment. It would ultimately increase punishment for theft and drug crimes.
    • More (simplified) information: CalMatters Voter Guide; PBS SoCal

• Measure Y — City of Mission Viejo

• • Title: “Transient Occupancy Tax Increase”
  • Explanation: This measure for the City of Mission Viejo would increase the taxes for out-of-city visitors from 8% to 12% for those staying in hotels and short-term rentals. The money gained from this, predicted to be about $670,000, would be used for city funding like police, emergency response, and public infrastructure projects throughout the city.
  • More (simplified) information: City of Mission Viejo; The OC Register

At the end of the day, I know voting can seem like a chore, or that it doesn’t really matter, but your vote is your voice, and can truly have a big impact within your community.

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