Voting Discrepancies at La Ballona Elementary School

Early Tuesday morning Patch received a complaint from a local Culver City resident that she did not received a Measure Y ballot  - Culver City’s half-cent sales tax measure – when she went to vote on Tuesday morning.

Patch met with Culver City City Clerk Martin Cole who said he had also received an email from a resident who told him he too had not received a Measure Y ballot when he went to vote at La Ballona Elementary School.

The issue, it appears, is that because this election is being regulated by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Office’s there are some polling stations that are being consolidated – with ballots for both Culver City and L.A. City being held in the same polling station, resulting in some Culver City residents not receiving the Measure Y ballot from the poll workers.

“As [Culver City’s] election official, I immediately went down and visited the La Ballona polling station around 10:30 a.m.” Cole told Patch.

Cole said that the station was “very busy” and that he spoke with three county inspectors and shared his concerns that some Culver City residents were not receiving the correct ballots.

“They agreed that they would instruct poll workers to provide clearer direction to voters and that Culver City voters who are eligible to vote for Measure Y will receive the appropriate ballot,” Cole said.

However, Cole said he took things one step further and spoke directly with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Office’s Deputy Registrar Debbie Martin around 1 p.m.

“She has assured me that she will be sending out additional staff to the potentially impacted polling places,” Cole said, adding that he will personally accompany those additional staffers to the polling places.

Cole said he would also be personally visiting each polling place where Culver City residents are eligible to vote to “observe the conditions and report any concerns directly to Ms. Martin.”

Did you have any problems voting today? Share your thoughts in the comments section, below.

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