Would-Be Voters, Listen Up

They’ve done it again--changed the voting rules for California’s primary election. Here’s an update along with some reminders:

* Slackers still have time to register to vote in the March 5 statewide primary. The deadline for registration has changed, from one month before the election to two weeks. The deadline therefore will be the close of business Feb. 19. Voters who have cast ballots in past elections and have not changed addresses usually remain registered and don’t need to do anything. Voter registration cards can be obtained from many government offices and some supermarkets and other stores. They can also be downloaded from the Web sites of the secretary of state (www.ss.ca.gov) or the county registrar (www.lavote.net).

* When voters go to the polls March 5, they will not be able to vote for any candidate from any party as they did in the 2000 “open” primary. The courts ruled that the system violated a political party’s right to limit primaries generally to its own members. Now, voters registered with a party receive a ballot listing only that party’s candidates, as before 2000. Registered independents, however, may request the ballot for the Democratic, Republican, American Independent or Natural Law parties--the parties that opted to let independents participate.

* And beginning with this election, any voter can sign up to be a permanent absentee voter. In some counties, all the voter needs to do is check a box on the absentee ballot application included in the sample ballot each voter is mailed. In Los Angeles County, the voter must either call the registrar’s office at (562) 466-1323 or write to the registrar of voters at P.O. Box 30450, Los Angeles 90030-0450. For one-time absentee ballots, voters can return the absentee form on the back of the sample ballot or download the form from their county registrar’s Web site.

Counties are seeking additional poll workers, especially those who speak Cantonese, Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog or Vietnamese. The volunteer must be a U.S. citizen, a registered voter and a resident of the county. One may apply via the county voter Web site or by calling the registrar’s office. The polls will, as usual, open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

More registration and voting information can be obtained from the secretary of state at (800) 345-VOTE or the Los Angeles County registrar of voters at (800) 815-2666, which provides a recorded menu of options.