I had lunch with a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago who is the Deputy City Clerk in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. My friend is one of the smartest novices I have worked with. I helped her with her first election and everything I taught her she confirmed either by looking for the code section in the Elections Code, or by contacting another city clerk to see what they do. That is how a novice truly learns; not just by taking what I say as gospel.
In any event, my friend was so excited about the city’s upcoming election in March, because the County of Los Angeles was using the city’s recreation center as a Voting Center under the County’s new Voting Solutions for All People program.
The County of Los Angeles has selected various sites throughout the County to be voting centers where voters can come in and vote at their convenience rather than going to a designated polling place. The Centers are open to any registered voter in the County of Los Angeles. The Voting Centers will be open 11 consecutive days before an election for votersto cast their ballots. Voters no longer have to wait in long lines on Election Day to cast their ballots or go to a precinct where it may be difficult to park. Rather, they can go to a Voting Center at their convenience within that 11-day period and use the new Ballot Marking Device (BMD) to cast their ballots.
In addition, the old fashion voter rosters prepared for each precinct are being replaced with an E-Pollbook that verifies registration eligibility of any County voter and allows for same day registration. Voters will no longer have to sign the precinct roster before being given a ballot to vote. The Ballot Marking Device is a touchscreen monitor that produces a paper ballot once the voter has completed marking the ballot via touchscreen. The Ballot Marking Device also gives the voter the opportunity to review the ballot and make changes before printing and placing it in the secured ballot box attached to the Ballot Marking Device.
I was fortunate to have the opportunity to try the new voting process and mark a mock ballot on the Ballot Marking Device. It was very simple, and I believe this new process will revolutionize the voting experience. After all, we are in the 21st Century. For more information, visit VSAP.lavote.net.