Observations on June 12 Neighborhood Council Elections from someone who voted.....in each one!!

Doug Epperhart, member of the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council is the definition of "dedication".

In his quest to ascertain the changes in the N.C. election process with the City Clerk running the Elections. Epperhart works his way from south to north. His full article "Everything but Hanging Chads" at "City Watch" can be read in full by linking here. Official results now avalible by linking here.

Excerpts below on each of the eight election sites.

First stop, Northwest San Pedro, 1:18 p.m.—I wrote down that I shopped in the area as the “factual basis” for being a stakeholder. No problem, no questions. I got to vote in all categories. One candidate for each office and no write-ins, making it very easy to choose—and I picked all the winners!

Next up, Wilmington, 2:10 p.m.—Three poll workers, one voter; the service was excellent. I asked if they had been given any criteria to determine whether people like me actually are stakeholders and what “factual basis” means. I was told they weren’t at liberty to talk about it.

Boyle Heights, 3:10 p.m.—I crossed paths with DONE general manager BongHwan Kim who stopped just long enough to say, “hi.” This is the first place I saw someone on the corner handing out campaign literature. This is also the first place I saw more than one other voter. Staff said there had a been a “steady flow” since the polls opened. I got to vote only for “at-large” candidates, but almost every office offered more than one name.

Lincoln Heights, 3:40 p.m.—The polling place was the lobby of Lincoln High’s auditorium. Lots and lots of students voting. The only place I was asked for an I.D. I got the entire 16-page ballot. Lots of competition in this election. The students all seemed to have a slate flyer. Tests are easy when you can use a cheat sheet. (Thanks to Vera Padilla, but back to Doug)

Greater Echo Park Elysian, 4:15 p.m.—I parked in front of the banner urging me to “Vote for Ida Talalla!” Poll workers told me it was O.K. because it was more than 100 feet from the entrance. Contested races in this election for everything except treasurer. Why doesn’t anybody ever want to be the treasurer?

Downtown Los Angeles, 4:47 p.m.—I saw Russ Brown out front of the Los Angeles Theater, where the voting was taking place. He said there were lines around the block during the first two hours and merchants complained customers couldn’t get in to their stores. No lines, but it was still busy when I got there.

Central Alameda, 5:45 p.m.—Candidate statements were front and center here. You couldn’t miss them. No lines, practically no voters. The ballot contained lots of blank spaces because hardly anybody signed up to run. There was a long list of write-ins, though. I was the first “affirmation” voter at this council, which seemed to greatly amuse the poll workers.

......and lastly,

CANNDU, 6:15 p.m.—So far, so good. I breezed through the process. I usually claimed stakeholder status based on spending money in a council’s area. Only at Greater Echo Park Elysian ask where specifically I had shopped and that only because they were trying to figure which district’s ballot to give me.

I was grilled at CANNDU. Where did I spend money? What was the address? After a lot of back and forth, we settled on buying gas at a station down the street ($4.43 a gallon, by far the cheapest price I’d seen all day).

Your thoughts appreciated.