A report filed yesterday with the California Secretary of State reveals that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "spent $190,000 more supporting the Proposition 8 gay marriage ban than they previously reported," according to the Daily News. The amount previous given was only $2,078. The money was spent on travel for church leaders based in Utah, use of facilities and equipment at their Salt Lake City headquarters, and to pay employees to work on passing the controversial proposition banning same-sex marriage. The Mormon church is now "being investigated by the state Fair Political Practices Commission." Donations to the Prop 8 campaign have attracted much attention from the media and from groups who opposed Prop 8; a recent motion to keep private the names of donors was denied on Thursday. A full list of Mormons for 8 donors is available online. more ›

With 100% of precincts reporting, voters in the city of Los Angeles seem to have passed three of the four measures on yesterday's ballot, each of which have different majorities needed to pass. more ›

Free donuts and coffee, long lines at the polls, the "I Voted" sticker, parties, ballots, and headlines... Election Day and Night in Los Angeles as seen through the eyes of the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr.
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According to the Associated Press, election officials in California have called the contentious, expensive, divisive, and highly-watched battle over Proposition 8: more ›

Last night's election was, as it has been and will be oft repeated, historic. more ›

An LAist reader caught some disturbing signage while videoing her vote today at The Aroma of Jesus Mission Church on Pico:

the church had put up the sign weeks ago and had lots of literature "left around"...not sure if they should host polls again!

LAist Editor Zach Behrens, from his Sherman Oaks polling place: more ›

Reader Gina Piccalo writes from Echo Park: more ›

Reports are slowly trickling in from around Los Angeles that, surprise, voting lines are long. LAist contributers Sam Kim and Sarah Ardalani report varying wait times in West L.A. and Echo Park, respectively. At Kim's polling place, lines stretched about 40 minutes long while Ardalani waited about 15 minutes at Golden West Christian Church off of Alvarado and Sunset where "tons of people" cast their ballots Tuesday morning. more ›

Election Day has finally arrived and with it continued worries about expected record turnout and what that means for each voter. The County Clerk has asked that voters arrive at their polling places after 9 a.m. and before 4:30 p.m. to avoid the crush of residents casting ballots during the morning and evening rush hour. Don't let that dissuade you, however, from voting when you need/want to. more ›

Election officials are bracing for tremendous turnout at polling places throughout Los Angeles County Tuesday and reassuring voters that enough ballots will be on hand to serve the millions expected to show up for the hotly contested race. more ›

Partying on election day is as old as voting itself. The Romans used to send huge plumes of smoke to the sky from gigantic pyres after each Senate was selected. George Washington allegedly got so drunk after he won the presidency that it took three days to find his wig John Adams had thrown in the Potomac. more ›

There's a long--and growing--list of places who are offering freebies and treats to people who say they voted or who can show their "I Voted" sticker. Some places offering goodies include Starbucks (free cup of coffee), Krispy Kreme (free donut), O!Burger (free fries or cookies with any burger order), and the Colorado Wine Company (1/2 off wine), to name a few. This of course immediately produces some ire among those who voted by mail and didn't get a sticker and those whose citizenship/residency prohibits them from voting despite having political awareness; it's no fun to be left out, especially when we're talking free coffee and donuts! more ›

A new ad revealed today shows Senators Barack Obama (D) and Dianne Feinstein (D) together with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) asking people to vote "No" on Proposition 8, which seeks to eliminate same-sex marriage. more ›

There have been bake sales and Dem versus Rep chocolates, and now Echo Park's Delilah Bakery is putting the frosting on the upcoming election, so to speak, with her free mini-cupcakes in patriotic red-white-and-blue. Head over this weekend to get a bite for yourself! more ›

The Los Angeles County Clerk's Office in Norwalk is the only place to vote between now and Tuesday, Nov. 4. If you want to vote early, it's advised that you arrive early, give yourself at least an hour, and be prepared to wait. more ›

Ugh... Watch the video news report from last night's CBS2 news: more ›

What is it? Prop 11 seeks to redraw the states' political boundaries that some have complained are too ridiculously drawn to all but ensure an incumbent will retain his seat. If it passes, Prop 11 would establish a 14 member commission to redraw the 120 districts in the state Assembly and Senate that would result in more competitive elections every two years, or so the hope goes. more ›

The Los Angeles Unified School District is looking for your "Yes" vote on their Measure Q, which is a $7 billion bond which will help the ailing district get more kids into real classrooms, fix their buildings, get new technology, and fund enriching programs. It is, according to the Daily News, "the fifth bond in 11 years that would benefit the [LAUSD]. Local charter schools would receive $450 million from the bond." So far donors, mainly from unions, construction and management firms, and smaller fundraising coalitions, have brought in over $700,000 in funds to help promote the Measure. Q needs a 55% "Yes" vote to pass. The Daily News adds that "in promoting the bond, LAUSD officials note that even after the completion of its current $20 billion construction program, more than 200,000 students will remain in portable classrooms." more ›

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Why exactly is this? Prop 7, the renewable energy initiative, is a doosy of a measure. It has quietly slipped under the radar of sexier ballot measures (such as the high speed rail Proposition 1 for a bullet train from LA to San Francisco) and more controversial items (such as Prop 8's marriage equality issue). But the tenets of Proposition 7 should not be ignored as it may very well have long lasting impacts on the state. more ›

As part of a week-long push, students on University of California campuses have been working hard to register as many Californians as possible before Monday's deadline. The effort is part of the UC Students Vote! Project, which began on October 13th and will run until the 20th. The week earned the endorsement of UC System President Yudof last month, and the last tally of newly registered voters was at 8,095 state-wide since the week began. The project is the largest non-partisan youth voter engagement mobilization in the state, and is led and and comprised entirely of students. more ›

The Los Angeles Times went against its recent tradition of not taking sides in presidential elections and endorsed Sen. Barack Obama, calling him "the competent, confident leader who represents the aspirations of the United States." more ›

With the November election approaching, people are doing whatever they can to get the message out. This photo, taken in Silver Lake came to LAist in our Tips inbox, and shows one truck owner's way of spreading the "No on 8" message. Bumper sticker, button, and t-shirt makers take notice: "Love, Not 8" is tres catchy, yes? more ›

LA Times' top blog, Top of the Ticket, spoke to local artist Shepard Fairey about all the spoofs on his Obama "HOPE" poster. One replaces the word "HOPE" under Obama to "HYPE" and another shows Sarah Palin or John McCain with "NOPE" under their faces. Unimpressed, finding them too negative, Fairey told the blog that "when something becomes pervasive enough, it becomes a reference point that people are going to use for commentary and parody. They build their own thing off of it and use it for their own agenda." Fairey will be installing an Obama window display at TenOverSix on Beverly this weekend. more ›

The blog FiveThirtyEight (as in the number of electoral votes) has been going state by state doing electoral projections. Today was California: "Coastally Urban and Maverickily Liberal, California is one of only four majority-minority states (TX, HI, NM) in the nation. It’s a guaranteed 55 electoral votes for Barack Obama, as it has been for every Democrat since 1992. It has the smallest percentage of rural voters in America. Ironically, it's a state both candidates have visited far out of proportion to the closeness of the race, because both sides need wealthy donors who populate the state. Over ten percent of the Five hundred Thirty Eight electoral votes in play in a presidential election are represented by California." The analysis goes on to each of the candidates individually. more ›

No, we're not a month ahead of ourselves. Confused? Brian Leubitz at Calitics explains: "While it might not be November 4 yet, today is the day that vote by mail ballots are sent out to the masses. Furthermore, in government buildings across the state, early voting begins today. Folks, every day between now and the 4th is Election Day. While about half of the vote will actually come on election day, in some counties large majorities will vote before E-day." more ›

This year's election has gone to the tech generation, which can account for this clever way to txt your way into today's Sarah Palin rally in Carson. An E-billboard across from the Home Depot Center was rented by the California Democratic party so that those wishing to pose the Alaskan Gov. and Republican VP nom some more hard-hitting questions could do so via a text message. Watch what came up online here. more ›

Tomorrow, Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin will be in the Los Angeles area for a fundraiser and a big afternoon rally at the Home Depot Center in Carson that is expecting to draw 15,000 people. With that, LA Indy Media tells readers to "think about getting tickets and take the protest inside the hall." In addition to a fundraiser in Orange County, she'll have one in the Bay Area city, Woodside. more ›

Here's the latest ad from the California Nurses Association. more ›