Don’t Wait Till the Last Day

SALLY McKENNA

Manager, Voter Records Division, L.A. County Registrar, Norwalk

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We have voter registration forms available at 1,300 locations including city and county offices, libraries, post offices, fire departments, chambers of commerce and any public place that offers to hand them out.

Oct. 5 was the last day to register. Before that day, if someone had wanted a form, they could have called our office and it would have been mailed to them. All our staff had a list of the locations that had the forms available. When someone called requesting information on where to find forms, we would try to direct them to the location closest them. We would suggest that they call before they go to these places to find out if there still were forms available.

These 1,300 locations volunteer to provide these forms. They have been on our list for some time, but we can’t guarantee that they are giving them out or that at a given time they are fully stocked. If they call and tell us they are out of forms, we have a person who goes out and delivers the forms to them. We may not be getting calls because some forms may not have our current number.

This woman made a concerted effort; I fully understand her frustration. We have decided to make an extra effort of contacting each of our 1,300 locations. Instead of just calling or writing, we will make field trips to make sure that the forms are accessible, find out where they are being placed and make sure the establishment has our current number for form reloads. Even though it’s too late to register for this election, there are more to come. We always want to keep people informed and registered at their current address.

People should register or re-register as soon as they move. You can do this at the DMV as well. If people don’t want to drive around, they can start with us and ask that a form be mailed to them. People should start early so as not to be caught up in this rush.

For voter information, residents can call 1 (800) 815-2666.