Traditionally election day is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, but early voting in Los Angeles County has already begun.
If you want to vote in person, you can now go to one of the 118 vote centers throughout the county. They’ll be open every day, including weekends, through election day, Nov. 3, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
On Oct. 30, the county will open 650 more voting stations. A wide range of public venues are serving as polling centers this year, including Banc of California Stadium in Exposition Park, the Forum in Inglewood and Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, whose open spaces make social distancing easier while accommodating more voters
NBA arenas across the country are being used as voting centers as part of social justice initiative that the league and its players agreed to in the aftermath of the George Floyd protests this summer.
These vote centers represent a departure from how residents could vote in previous election cycles. Before this year, Angelenos voted at designated polling places in their neighborhoods, whereas now they can cast their ballot at any voting center, from Long Beach to Lancaster, regardless of where they live in the county.
“You’re not tied into only being able to vote in one specific voting place, as you were before,” Justin Levitt, a political science professor at Cal State Long Beach told the Times before the March presidential primary. “Of course, for voters going to these centers, this is going to be a new experience.”
Officials hope this flexibility and encouraging people to either vote by mail or simply drop off their filled-out ballots at a vote center will reduce the lines on election day and the pressure on the new voting technology the county is using. The March election was marred by breakdowns and delays at the polls as the county rolled out its new $300-million voting system. November will mark the first election since that problem-riddled debut, and officials have spent months trying to fix the glitches.
And it will be the first election where ballots will have been mailed to all 5.6 million registered voters, not just those who request them. Voters can drop their filled-out ballots into boxes that have been placed around the county. Voters can find the location of their nearest drop box online.
“Am I concerned? Yeah, and I am going to be concerned until Nov. 4,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who has been vocal in her criticism after long lines and computer problems frustrated some voters in March. “We have a huge challenge in front of us.”
You can look up the closest voting center to you on the county’s website.
Matt Stiles contributed to this report
