LA County updates voting system after March election beset by long wait times
Election Day is fast approaching and L.A. County officials are trying to be extra cautious for both voters and poll workers.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Voting by mail is front-and-center due to COVID-19. In Los Angeles County, mail-in ballots go out in the next few days. Voting in person is still an option and hand sanitizer will come in handy.
"We want to thank Anheuser-Busch and their coordination with various political leaders and agencies for their donation of the hand sanitizer that you see behind me," L.A. County's chief elections official Dean Logan said during a news conference.
In addition to preparing for an election during a pandemic, the county also updated its new voting system. As you may recall, there were very long wait times during the March primary.
"The issues we saw in March were primarily, revolved around the voter check-in process. And those had to do with the capacity of the electronic poll books that we implemented for the first time. So what we've done is we've worked with our vendor to make system improvement enhancements to speed up that check-in process," said Monica Flores with the L.A. County Registrar of Voters.
Here's how to vote in LA County
There's still common deterrents that contribute to fewer people voting.
"It is one of my jobs to inform folks who have those felony convictions that if they are not currently in prison, and they are on probation state or federal, they do have the right to vote," said Tim Kornegay with L.A. Voice and L.A. Free the Vote. Several groups - including the L.A. County Registrar's Office - discussed what they're doing to reach more people.
"AltaMed is going to be hosting over a dozen flex vote centers and mobile vote centers on our honor clinic facilities," said Eduardo Cisneros with AltaMed Health Services.
Rock the Vote is helping register voters and conduct outreach to some of the youngest voters, using social media. The L.A. County Registrar just released its list of dropbox locations and about 750 vote centers. Hundred will open on Oct. 24 with the remainder opening on Oct. 30, and you will be able to check wait times at LAVote.net.
