CVW invites the community to a voting informational event on Feb. 24.

By Mary O’KEEFE

CVW has partnered with Assemblymember Laura Friedman, Senator Anthony Portantino and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger to help ease some concerns about the new voting system and the new election rules including the extended number of days to vote.

All are invited to the event to learn not only about the new voting machines but changes in how many days and where registered voters can vote. 

The event will be held at St. Luke’s of the Mountains Episcopal Church, 2563 Foothill Blvd. at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 24. Representatives from the LA County Registrar’s office will be there to answer questions.

The March 3 elections, also known as Super Tuesday, will see a new voting system in place that is hoped to make it easier for voters to cast their ballot. Unfortunately, it has caused some confusion and concerns, especially after the issues that occurred with the online app during the recent Iowa caucuses.

“In my conversations with constituents, it’s clear that voters are worried about the changes. We’ll have more flexibility for voters, new polling places and new voting technology. It’s all designed to make voting easier for everyone but, as with anything new, it’s going to require an adjustment. So far, I’ve been impressed with the county’s outreach and education efforts. It’s not easy to reach the over 5 million voters who call our county home, and that’s why it’s so important for all of us to share this information with our communities. I hope this event will provide a venue for the county to explain how the voting system will work and to build the confidence of our community’s voters in the new system,” said Assemblymember Laura Friedman.

Portantino’s office has also been listening to concerns.

“My office has heard from some constituents who are concerned about the possibility of hacking the new electronic system. There are many people also concerned about foreign intervention in the wake of documented foreign interference in 2016,” Portantino said. “We have also heard from constituents as well as candidates who are concerned that voters won’t know how to see every candidate before making their choices, since the voting screen only shows four candidates per page per race.  This is of particular concern in Glendale where there are two pages of candidates for city council.”

There is another change in the way candidates and offices will be listed, thanks to SB 25 that was authored by Portantino.

“Cities were concerned that when the state forced local communities to consolidate local elections with county elections school board and city elections would be placed at the end of long ballots, stifling turnout. I heard that concern and reordered the ballot as follows: local, county, state, and federal. This change is garnering overwhelming support, as voters will get to vote for local offices and then end with the presidential primary. This should significantly help with turnout,” Portantino said.

The Feb. 24 event hopefully will relieve some worries and result in increased voter turnout.

“Throughout our region, we have suffered from low voter turnout across the board,” Friedman said. “If we can dramatically increase turnout this election, our democracy will be all the better.”

  Mary Okeefe