Sanders’ campaign asks judge to keep L.A. County polling centers open because of long lines and glitches
Bernie Sanders’ campaign is asking a judge to force polling locations in Los Angeles County to stay open until 10 p.m. after voters reported long wait times and glitches at a number of the county’s newly designed vote centers.
“Multiple polling locations in the county have experienced extreme wait times for individuals to vote, including wait times up to four hours to cast a ballot,” the campaign wrote in the request filed Tuesday night. “If an emergency [temporary restraining order] is not granted to keep the polls open for an additional two hours, county voters’ right to participate in our democracy will be immediately and irreparably harmed.”
Dean Logan, the registrar of voters in Los Angeles County, apologized to voters for the long wait times and told reporters late Tuesday that polling centers would not stay open late, Fox 11 reported. But anyone who was in line at 8 p.m. will be allowed to vote.
On the biggest day of the Democratic presidential primary calendar, 14 states — from Maine to California — held primaries on Super Tuesday. There were1,357 delegates at stake, just over a third of the votes at this summer’s nominating convention.The balloting shaped up as a battle between Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden.Former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg dropped out Wednesday morning after a disappointing showing, considering the hundreds of millions he’s spent on his campaign. Sen. Elizabeth Warren also fell well short of expectations. Our reporters in California and other key Super Tuesday states followed the day’s developments and will keep you up to date on the aftermath.Live Super Tuesday results Photos: Super Tuesday | 14 states hold primaries with 1,357 delegates at stake
In the filing, Sanders’ campaign cited examples of problems reported at 17 polling stations across the county.
At Logan Elementary School in Echo Park, the filing said, the wait was an hour at 12:20 p.m. because about half of the check-in stations were not working.
At UCLA’s Ackerman Union, the only voting center on campus, as many as 300 students were waiting in line at various points in the afternoon, the filing said. Because of Wi-Fi problems, it said, only nine of 39 voting machines were being used.
The filing said polling centers should offer provisional ballots to any voters who arrive after 8 p.m. Those provisional ballots should be segregated from provisional ballots cast earlier in the day, the filing said.
What was your experience with voting in the presidential primary at L.A. County’s new vote centers? The L.A. Times wants to know.
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