In a region where voter turnouts tend to be exceedingly low, the extent of early voting in Los Angeles County this weekend was stunning, with thousands of people braving long lines and waiting for up to four hours.
But for L.A. County residents who didn’t get a chance to cast an early ballot, they’ll have one more chance Monday, though at only one location — the Registrar-Recorder’s Office at 12400 Imperial Highway in Norwalk until 4 p.m.
So far, more than 25,000 people have voted early in Los Angeles County, according to the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office. The secretary of state’s office says 19.4 million Californians — a record — were registered to vote in advance of Tuesday’s general election.
Brenda Duran, a spokeswoman for the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office, told the Los Angeles Times that a total of 7,756 ballots were cast last weekend at early voting stations, and voters broke that record this weekend, with more than 8,000 Angelenos voting on Saturday alone.
After polls opened at 8 a.m. Sunday, long lines were reported in North Hollywood, West Covina, Culver City, Downey and Torrance. At midday, the polling places were clogged with people who had already filled out their ballots but were waiting in line to personally hand them in and collect their “I Voted” sticker.
In Orange County, early ballots were being filled out at Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Irvine Civic Center, UC Irvine, Mission Viejo, Santa Ana and Westminster. Voters could also stay in their cars and hand ballots to workers at the Irvine Civic Center, Mission Viejo and Santa Ana locations.
Of the registered voters in Los Angeles County, 51 percent are registered Democrat and 18.6 percent Republican. In Orange County, there are 2 million registered voters, with 37.8 percent of them Republican and 34 percent Democrat.
