Ryan Carter
With fewer polling places and a much ballyhooed recall process,
officials are expecting longer lines and some confusion among voters
in Tuesday's historic special election.
"There will be widespread confusion as to where to go," said Chris
Carson, president of the Glendale/Burbank chapter of the League of
Women Voters. "This is unprecedented, and it happened so fast.
Usually, there are six to seven months to prepare for an election.
This time it was [four to] six weeks."
If the number of votes already collected from mail-in ballots is
any indication, this election will draw crowds. As of Wednesday, the
Secretary of State's office reported more than 1 million absentee
ballots had been returned.
Much of the preparation for Tuesday has centered around the
reduced number of polling places. In the last statewide election, the
county had 5,000 polling places. In this one, it will have 1,800. In
Glendale's last municipal election, 52 polling places were set up
compared to 38 for Tuesday, said Rita Buchanan, Glendale's assistant
city clerk. Many voters will have to go to sites different from their
traditional polling places.
But those who are running election day in Glendale and those who
are helping to run it said they are prepared for the historic
election, the first recall election of a governor in the state's
history. On the ballot, residents will vote yes or no on the recall
of Gov. Gray Davis. They can also choose a candidate to succeed Davis
if he is recalled.
In addition, the ballot will include two other measures:
Proposition 53, which would set aside up to 3% of the state's general
fund annually for infrastructure improvements, and Proposition 54,
which would restrict the state from collecting and using most types
of racial and ethnic data.
Registrar's office officials have set up voter information numbers
and a Web site in which they can find their polling places. They
should call (800) 815-2666 or (562) 466-1323 or go to www.lavote.net.
The League of Women Voters Glendale/Burbank also has a phone bank set
up at 247-2407.
To save time at the polls, voters should read their sample ballot,
and note their polling place location on the back and its hours of
operation. They should also have an idea of where their chosen recall
candidate is on the list of 135 candidates on the ballot so they do
not have to search for the name while in the ballot box, officials
said.
