Trouble in Paradise?

It's just another day at the beach for this polling place in Marina Del Rey, where volunteers hand out fresh-baked goodies to the voters and are hosting a BBQ for the poll workers.

Unfortunately, not everything is picture-perfect around Los Angeles.

As reported earlier on LAist, Decline-to-State voters (a/k/a DTS, a/k/a non-partisan, a/k/a "real" independent) must be extra careful to mark their ballots correctly if they choose to vote in either the Democratic or American Independent primaries. I visited two precincts today where at least one things was done incorrectly:

• When I voted this morning, I informed my local poll worker that I am registered as Decline-to-State but would like to vote in the Democratic primary. They handed me a ballot marked "NONPARTISAN" and sent me over to the Democratic booths. Despite their written instructions (which I saw later), they failed to inform me that I needed to mark a special box to have my ballot counted. Fortunately, the machines were pretty clear and I was able to mark everything correctly.
• Another polling location I stopped by, where friends were volunteering, had been handing voters in my situation a Democratic ballot. While this might actually help ensure more accurate counts if a DTS voter fails to properly mark their ballot, it could also confuse voters at the machine. Furthermore, it could create accounting nightmares for elections officials when they realize that the number of people who voted with a Democratic ballot exceeds the number of Democrats in a precinct. No matter what, it goes against the instructions clearly printed on the voter rolls and in the instructions given to precinct workers.

Hopefully this is trivial, but Nonpartisans everywhere must be especially vigilant. If you are not a member of any party but wish to vote for the ones that allow it (again, just Democratic or American Independent), make sure to take the NONPARTISAN ballot and mark the correct box.

Editor Zach Behrens is interviewing an elections official and we'll have more coverage coming up later this afternoon.

Clarification: As discussed in the comments below, this information is about LA County. If you are outside LA County, check with a local polling official.