Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. today. Poll workers won’t turn away voters who stand in line before 8 p.m., and polls will remain open until those voters cast their ballots, Drugan said.
“Everyone in line by 8 p.m. will be processed,” he said.
More than 26,000 poll workers were hired for 4,394 polling places in the county for this election, Drugan said.
Most voters go to their polling places when polls open and after 5 p.m., according to the county’s registrar-recorder’s office.
In an effort to help, the registrar-recorder’s office allowed voters to cast ballots starting Oct. 6 at its headquarters in Norwalk, Drugan said.
Since then, 24,138 people have voted at the registrar-recorder’s office headquarters, he said. Of those, 7,749 already waited in long lines and cast ballots over the weekend, Drugan said.
Early voting was underway before today in 30 states, said Dean Bonner, a research associate at Public Policy Institute of California.
The presidential race and some controversial propositions are likely to draw many Californians to the polls, Bonner said.
Proposition 8, a measure that would eliminate the rights of same-sex couples to marry, is likely drawing most voters to the polls, he said.
“There is definitely some enthusiasm in this election,” Bonner said.
Expectations of high turnout came after county officials saw an increase in Internet requests for absentee ballots as well as a jump in the number of people returning mail-in ballots, he said.
“We have had very aggressive voter outreach,” Drugan said.
As of Friday, 4,318,489 people were registered to vote, according to the county registrar-recorder’s office.
