Voting

A friend of mine was admitted into UCLA Medical Center on an emergency basis. At the end of the week he learned that he would not be released before the Nov. 8 election and was concerned about his vote. He called me because I have been involved with Voters to End the Arms Race and Coalition ’88.

I called the county registar of voters, who, upon learning that the hospital in question was UCLA, advised that it was on the list of hospitals that must provide their patients with ballots, enabling them to vote.

The process involves bringing the patient a form to sign for identification, returning said form to the registar, securing the ballot, bringing it to the patient and then returning the completed ballot to the registar before the closing of the polls.

The process was duly carried out. My friend was given a big lift and so was democracy. Maybe this offsets the shocking news that uniformed guards were stationed in the polling places in minority neighborhoods on Election Day?

SUZY MARKS

Los Angeles