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Voting Early, At A Hospital (Or A Farmers Market. Or A Mall. Or…)
L.A. County election officials are deploying "Mobile Vote Centers" like this one to 25 scheduled stops. (Chava Sanchez/LAist)
If Jamie Wells had to vote like she did in years past, she’d be hustling home from her job in Boyle Heights at the end of Election Day and sitting in traffic for an hour to make it to her neighborhood polling place.
This year, L.A. County election officials have made major changes to where and how we vote.
And that meant that today one of the county’s three “Mobile Vote Centers” set up a polling location right outside Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center, where Wells works as a nurse.
“It’s super nice, actually. I’m surprised,” said Wells, who loved that she could vote without hassle “right before lunch.”
This primary election marks the first time L.A. County voters can cast a ballot at any one of almost 1,000 “vote centers” across the county — and not just the location closest to their home.
By the time the official March 3 primary election date arrives, the “Mobile Vote Centers” will have made 25 one-day stops across the region. Officials are setting up pop-up polling places at farmers markets, malls, workplaces -- and even at Universal Studios’ CityWalk.
Check out a full list of where the Mobile Vote Centers will appear>>
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In addition to these portable vote centers, some regular in-person voting locations have been open since last Sunday; these “11-day” polling places will be open daily through the election. Another wave of voting locations will open this weekend and will remain open through 8 p.m. on March 3.
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