California recall election: 108 polling places open in LA County for early in-person voting
POMONA, Calif. (KABC) -- With California's gubernatorial recall Election Day less than two weeks away, 108 polling places were opened Saturday morning across Los Angeles County for early, in-person voting.
Those who plan to vote in person are required to wear masks at the county's polling places, where voting machines are positioned to accommodate social distancing and will be cleaned multiple times daily, officials said.
For voters who need to find the location closest to them, that process has been made easy, said Dean Logan, the county's chief elections official.
"We have a lookup feature on our website at lavote.net," Logan said in an interview with ABC7. "If you're on your smartphone, you can even navigate to wherever the closest location is.
"And we've also mailed postcards to every registered voter, with a list of the locations that are closest to where they live," Logan added. "But, again, they're not limited to those locations. They can go anywhere in the county."
Early voting will run from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. until Sept. 13. Each of the polling locations offer those who have registered to vote, still need to vote, or drop off their ballot off an opportunity to do so.
For Michelle Cervantes and her mother, it's what's at stake for women that got them to vote in person at the Lincoln Park senior center.
"I wanted to come in person so the votes would get counted faster. It's kind of stressful hearing all the news with what happened with Texas and everything. I kinda just urge everyone to go vote as soon as you can," she said.
But for others, they feel no matter the reason, it's their civic duty to cast a ballot.
"I'm strongly against voter apathy. I feel like every vote counts...I'm here with a purpose," said Joe Cervantes.
California recall election poll shows strong support to keep Newsom in office
Meanwhile, a group of election security experts on Thursday called for a rigorous audit of the recall election after copies of systems used to run elections across the country were released publicly.
Their letter sent to the secretary of state's office urges the state to conduct a type of post-election audit that can help detect malicious attempts to interfere.
The statewide recall targeting Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, set for Sept. 14, is the first election since copies of Dominion Voting Systems' election management system were distributed last month at an event organized by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, an ally of former President Donald Trump who has made unsubstantiated claims about last year's election. Election offices across 30 states use the Dominion system, including 40 counties in California.
A majority of voters are expected to cast mail ballots during the recall, returning them through the U.S. Postal Service or by drop boxes in their counties.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
