Election and law enforcement prepare for Nov. 5 as voter turnout so far low in Los Angeles

Fewer voters in Los Angeles County are turning out to vote early than in the last presidential race, but officials said Tuesday that with the hotly contested national election, they are stepping up security to prevent voter tampering or intimidation.

“There have been no serious threats to polling places or poll workers in Los Angeles County,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said.

According to him, law enforcement agencies are monitoring the election process and communicating with federal officials.

On Monday, ballot boxes were burned in Portland (Oregon) and Vancouver (Washington). And in other parts of the country, law enforcement actions are arranged near the polling stations, and officials set up alarm buttonsamong other measures to protect polling station workers and ballot papers.

“There’s a narrative around the country about the security of the election process, and we want to make sure that voters have confidence that we have a process in place that will protect them, our staff, and their ballots in the process.” said Los Angeles County Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan.

There are 427 boxes where residents can return mailed ballots.

“The boxes we use here in Los Angeles County are designed to suppress fires,” Logan said. The ballots are nearly airtight, and an inspection by firefighters “showed that anything that’s flammable should go out very quickly,” he said. “Really, the bigger concern on our end would be damage to ballots in response to an incident,” such as water damage.

Sheriff’s officials met regularly with local, state and federal agencies and kept the recorder informed of local and national developments. Local police agencies are training for civil unrest, and the sheriff plans to have specialized units ready for election time.

“I want people to feel safe that they can go to any polling place and not be afraid that something might happen,” Luna said. “If there’s anything in there, call us right away. We will have additional people and we will respond.”

Currently, officials are not planned for the polling stations.

More than 3 million votes are expected to be cast in Los Angeles County, then verified and counted at a sprawling ballot processing center in the City of Industry on the site of the former Fry’s Electronic store. On Tuesday, representatives of the election commission gave the media a tour of the premises, drawing attention to the protocols and urging those who can, to vote early.

“If you are able and willing to cast your vote, we really encourage voters to vote early,” Logan said. Under state law, the final vote count cannot be confirmed until Dec. 3, but he said most of the “final results” should be available two weeks after the final vote.

Counting of votes will begin on election day in a glass-enclosed room when the polling stations close. But preparations are already underway. The center has about 800 workers who register mail-in ballots and verify signatures in anticipation of the big day. Rows of workers check the envelopes for any damage or oddities before going through a multi-step process that includes counting the ballots, verifying signatures and removing the ballot from the envelope. The paper ballots are then passed through a vote-counting machine, which scans them. Votes will be counted only at 20:00 on November 5.

“When that ballot gets into the hands of our election staff registrar, it becomes transparent,” said Mimi Kennedy, who served on the advisory committee. A voting solution for all peoplegroup developed by Registrar/County Clerk in 2009 to upgrade to new machines. She said she is confident in the district’s ability to conduct elections properly.

On November 5, about 9,000 people will work at the polling stations in the community. Sheriff’s officials will take the ballot boxes from the polling places via helicopters and patrol cars to a warehouse-like processing center under heavy surveillance, where K-9 units will search for explosives. or other threats.

“Our parking lot actually becomes a helipad, and it’s a real scene on election night,” Logan said.

As of Tuesday, about 900,000 ballots were cast. Assistant Registrar/County Clerk Monica Flores estimates that the rate is about 30 to 40 percent of the rate in previous presidential elections, when the pandemic brought in record numbers of early voters.

“It could be a low turnout in general. Maybe more people will vote in person, or maybe people are just waiting to vote later in the election period, waiting to vote on Election Day,” she said. .

There are 122 early voting center locations that have been open since Saturday. And as of Monday evening, 47,000 residents voted in person.

On Saturday, another 526 polling stations will be opened, that is, by the end of the election period, 644 election centers will be opened in the district. Any voter in Los Angeles County can go to any of these locations.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.