LOS ANGELES – Some voters arriving at their Los Angeles County polling places Tuesday were surprised to discover that their names were missing from the roster of eligible voters, a glitch that county officials attributed to a printing error.
Dean Logan, the county’s registrar-recorder/county clerk, called the problem a “random issue with the print job that ran the paper rosters,” but said the glitch was not preventing anyone from voting. Affected voters were being given provisional ballots at the polling place to ensure their votes would be tabulated.
According to the county, the printing issue affected the voter rolls at 1,530 of the 4,357 precinct locations. A total of 118,522 voters’ names were omitted from the lists.
“We are aware and tracking this issue,” Logan wrote on his Twitter page in response to questions from voters. “We apologize for the inconvenience this caused you. Provisional ballots are in place to ensure voters have the chance to vote on Election Day.”
He assured voters that provisional ballots will be tabulated and included in the election results once registration status and eligibility are confirmed.
County Supervisor Hilda Solis issued a statement urging affected voters to obtain and fill out a provisional ballot.
“Regardless of what our hard-working poll workers say, if you believe you are registered to vote and your name does not appear on the roster at your polling place, you have the absolute right to a provisional ballot,” Solis said. “Please do not leave any polling place without voting through either a regular ballot or by requesting a provisional ballot. Provisional ballots are counted in the election returns once your registration is confirmed.”
Residents were also being urged to verify their polling location, since its possible the location may have changed even after sample ballots were mailed.
Polling places can be verified at www.lavote.net/locator.
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