By ALICE OLLSTEIN Special to the Daily Press
CITYWIDE Thanks to a technological upgrade, Los Angeles voters can now look up their voting location, view a sample ballot and brush up on voting instructions online,just in time for the June 3 state primary election.
Acting Los Angeles County Registrar- Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan announced the addition to the existing www.lavote.net site last week.
While surfing the new site, voters can look up candidate statements, ballot measures, analysis and arguments. The sample ballot can be accessed in English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog/Filipino and Vietnamese. Another option is the Interactive Voice Response telephone system, which requires voters to enter their zip code on the telephone keypad to obtain information relevant to their district.
Logan also announced last month that this upcoming election would be the debut of a newly formatted ballot designed to facilitate nonpartisan crossover voting. A nonpartisan voter is one who registers as “Decline to State” or who did not register with a qualified political party.
The new ballot eliminates the need for nonpartisan voters to mark an additional bubble to secure their votes for partisan candidates. A voting working group consisting of members of various L.A. County organizations redesigned the ballot.
Participants in the working group included: The California secretary of state, representatives of the county Democratic, Republican and American Independent parties, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), Civic Engagement, California Common Cause, the Courage Campaign, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), the League of Women Voters and the African American Voter Registration and Education Project (AAVREP).
“We are extremely grateful to these organizations for their insights and participation,” Logan said. “Our primary objective in presenting the new crossover ballot and instructions is to ensure that all qualified and eligible voters understand their voting options and know their ballots will be accurately cast and counted.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 3, 2008. Read the original PDF.