Orange County combs voter rolls for dogs, cats

The search comes after a woman, 62, was charged with registering her canine.

- BY SALVADOR HERNANDEZ

ELECTION observers view signatures on ballots shown on screens in Santa Ana on Nov. 5, 2024.

There are Democrats, Republicans and independents, but now Orange County officials are trying to identify how many dogs and cats may be registered to vote.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors this month directed staff to cross-reference voter rolls with pet registration data in the county in order to make sure there are no four-legged voters with names like Fido, Fifi, Spot, Sparky or Lucky casting ballots in the next special election in November.

"How do we check that dogs and cats or whatever are not on our [voter] rolls?" Supervisor Dan Wagner asked during the meeting Sept. 23.

The measure, introduced by Wagner and Supervisor Janet Nguyen, came after a Costa Mesa woman was charged early this month with five felony counts after allegedly registering her dog to vote, and then casting ballots for the pet in two elections. The woman, Laura Lee Yourex, 62, had allegedly registered her dog, Maya Jean Yourex, to vote in the 2021 gubernatorial recall and the 2022 primary.

Yourex — the owner, not the dog — was charged with felony counts of perjury, offering a false document to be filed, two counts of casting a ballot when not entitled to vote, and registering a nonexistent person to vote, according to the district attorney's office.