Measure D, a bid to establish city council districts in the City of Irvine, appears headed for victory.
Yes – 17,303 votes (58.81%)<br />No – 12,121 votes (41.19%)
If that lead continues, Irvine will disband its “at-large” method of electing city council members, and council members will be elected only by the voters in their own districts, instead of by all voters in Irvine.
Previously, residents in all of Irvine could vote for as many candidates as there were open seats. For example, if there were three open council seats, residents could vote for three candidates, regardless of what neighborhood they or the council member lives in.
If Measure D continues on its path to victory, Irvine voters will add two more members to the four-member city council (for a total of six members) and adopt a map that will divide the city into six corresponding city council districts.
The new council will include the mayor and the six council members: The mayor will remain an at-large position chosen by all voters in Irvine and will still vote on issues that come before the city council.
Irvine, with a population of more than 309,000, is the currently largest California city without district elections.
Votes are still coming in. But a measure will be victorious if it gets more than 50% of the final vote.
• As of the morning of Wednesday, March 6, the Orange County Registrar-Recorder reported the following estimates of remaining ballots to count: 201,552
Breakdown of those votes:<br />o 63,716 are vote-by-mail<br />o 41,844 are drop box<br />o 87,080 are mail-in ballots returned to vote center<br />o 5,750 are "duplicated ballots"<br />o 3,160 are provisional ballots
The next update is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Wednesday and will follow at the same time each day until all votes are tallied.
• Note: In California, ballots postmarked on or before March 5 are counted toward the results as long as they arrive within seven days of the election, or by March 12. Results must be certified by county election officials by April 4.