Up to 100,000 LA Votes May Not Be Counted

Both the Democrat and American Independent parties held open primaries on Super Tuesday. Voters who declined to state an affiliation were handed a "nonpartisan" ballot and were allowed to select a presidential candidate in either of the open primaries.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting today that a large number of those voters in LA County may have failed to mark a special bubble on their ballots which could mean their votes won't be counted:

Dean Logan, acting Los Angeles County registrar, estimates that about 100,000 nonpartisan voters cast ballots without marking a party bubble. How many of them intended to vote for a presidential candidate is unclear -- some may have wanted to vote only on the propositions on the ballot.

Based on numbers provided by the Times last week, about half of LA's independents may have been effected.

In last Tuesday's election, almost 20% of Los Angeles voters were registered as Decline-To-State (784,296 of 3,963,780). There were also 31,667 registered as "miscellaneous." That category includes people who filled in organizations not formally recognized in California, like the "Let's Have a Party" Party.