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Weeks Ago, L.A. County Election Bureaucrats Quietly Decided To Change A 1st Council Dist. Polling Place Location But Didn't Tell LB's City Clerk Or LB Voters Until A Few Days Before Election; Yes, LB's City Council CAN Choose To Have LB's City Clerk Run LB's Elections Again, But...


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(Nov. 5, 2019, 4:10 p.m.) -- Elliot Gonzales, a candidate in LB's 1st Council district election ("election day" is Nov. 5) blew the whistle and broke the story on Facebook on Nov. 4 when he and his campaign consultant confirmed that L.A. County election officials had quietly roughly three weeks ago to change the location of one of five 1st Council district polling places. They moved it from Washington Middle School (1450 Cedar Ave) to the LB Rescue Mission (1335 Pacific Ave.)

On Nov. 4, Gonzales campaign consultant Jeff Nelson provided LBREPORT.com with these points he said an L.A. County election official told him:

Date decision was made to change the location:
October 8, 2019

Date postcards were sent to notify the voters:
Seven days prior to the election

Reason the polling place was changed:
It was determined that the office foyer at the middle school was too small to accommodate the new polling equipment.

As of this morning (November 4), the lavote.net polling locator was not updated with the new polling location information. When will this be updated?
The polling locator will be updated today [Nov. 4] (Less than 24 hours before the election)

Is the new location ADA compliant?
No

What efforts have been or will be made to assist voters in finding the correct polling location?

  • Postcards were mailed seven days prior to the election
  • Signs will be posted at the original polling location (Washington Middle School) at 7 a.m. on November 5 informing voters of the change
  • Robocalls to all registered voters whose phone numbers are known to the county registrar office will be made starting November 3 (Less than 24 hours before the election)
  • emails will be sent to all registered voters whose email addresses are known to the county registrar's office starting on November 3 (Less than 24 hours before the election)
  • The polling locator app will be updated November 3 (Less than 24 hours before the election)
  • County Registrar/County Clerk website will be updated November 3 (Less than 24 hours before the election)

    Will there be personnel at the Middle School from 7 am until 8 pm to help voters find the correct polling location?
    No, but poll workers will arrive at 7 a.m. to put up signs.

    Was there no other possible polling place available for the West Side or Washington School neighborhoods?
    No other site was available.

    Does the Registrar/County think that a men's rescue mission is an appropriate location for a polling location? Did they not think that it might be an intimidating environment for many voters (e.g, women with small children, the elderly)?
    It was the only site offered to voters in the west side and Washington neighborhoods.

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    On Nov. 5 in roughly the 2 p.m. hour, Gonzales campaign consultant Nelson said he went to the now-former Washington Middle School polling place location and reported on Facebook:

    I just went by the Washington Middle School to check to see if there were poll workers from the county, as I had been assured there would be, assisting people who were not aware that their polling place had been changed at the last minute and that the official government polling locator app had not been updated, and there was a woman there pulling on the doors, trying to get in, who did not realize that the polling place had been changed.

    There was a sign, in English, notifying the voters of the change, but this woman's first language was Spanish, so the sign was of little use to her.

    It was fortunate that I was there to assist her, and I did see that she made it to the correct location, but this is exactly the kind of situation that I was afraid was going to happen. Who knows how many other voters showed up and didn't know what to do? I called Al Duron at the County Registrar/County Clerk's office to let him know about the incident, but I was only able to leave a message.

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    It's not immediately known (and may be unknowable) to what extent if all any of this numerically affected the election outcome. In the special election, at least as many, if not more, "vote-by-mail" ballots may end up being cast as polling place ballots. (Vote by mail ballots have been flying and cast (mailed) since late September.)

    But if there's an especially low voter response in either vote by mail or polling place ballots, today's election -- with eight candidates -- may be decided by only a few votes (as other LB elections have been.) And then there's the matter of County election officials deciding to change a polling place location (arguably understandable ) BUT choosing not to tell LB's City Clerk OR LB voters about this until nearly the last minute.

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    For some, that latter point is a tipping point and sufficient cause to rethink having L.A. County run LB's elections. No, it's NOT required by a change in state law (regardless of what you may have read elsewhere).

    LB's City Clerk's office can still run LB elections, despite SB 415 that did require the City to change the scheduling of LB elections. But the City Council also chose to request that L.A. County run recent LB city elections, including the Nov. 5, 2019 special election in the 1st Council district, instead of the LB City Clerk's office.

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    There may be perfectly sensible logistical and fiscal reasons for this (we name a few below) but to our knowledge (and after a quick confirmatory conversation today (Nov. 5) with City Attorney Charles Parkin), there doesn't appear to be a legally required reason why the City of LB has to let L.A. County election officials run LB elections. It's a ultimately a City Council policy decision.

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    Our understanding is as follows: If the City of LB wants to have the LB City Clerk's office run LB elections (as was the case for many years), it would likely require the City Council to agree to either purchase or rent or somehow acquire for use new election equipment because the City's former election equipment is no longer certified as legally appropriate. That would cost a sum we don't currently know.

    In addition, the City would have to coordinate with the County on polling place locations (because City and County/state/federal elections DO have to occur at the same scheduled times under SB 415.)

    And it would likely require the use of a second set of ballots, an experience LB voters in the past ("two vote Tuesday") when the City and the County both conducted coinciding elections.

    LB has two major citywide elections coming up: one a special costly Council-approved special citywide election in March 2020 that proposes to make the Measure A sales tax permanent and regular elections for four Council seats (districts 2, 4, 6 and 8.) AND in November 2020, possible runoffs in some of those Council races AND a possible citywide ballot measure not-so-quietly being discussed ($200,000 in funds already raised) by Councilman Rex Richardson for some sort of "affordable housing" ballot measure.

    Whom do you want running those LB elections? Again: it's a City Council policy call...

    Some may argue that polling place and election snafus can and do occur regardless of who runs elections. Others may argue that when L.A. County election officials chose to change a polling place locations and keep LB's City Clerk and LB voters in the dark for weeks, they showed why they shouldn't run LB elections...and cost shouldn't be a factor because democracy is priceless.


    Help keep our independent news going and growing in Long Beach. No one in LBREPORT.com's ownership, reporting or editorial decision-making has ties to development interests or other special interests seeking or receiving benefits of City Council development-related decisions; or holds a City Hall appointive position; or has contributed sums to political campaigns for Long Beach incumbents or challengers. No one in our ownership, reporting or editorial decision-making has been part of the governing board of any City government body or other entity on whose policies we report. LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. You can help keep really independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.


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