Truth matters. Community matters. Your support makes both possible. LAist is one of the few places where news remains independent and free from political and corporate influence. Stand up for truth and for LAist. Make your year-end tax-deductible gift now.
LA County Not Keeping Polls Open After Sanders Lawsuit
Voters wait in line to cast ballots at USC. Natalie Chudnovsky
Bernie Sanders' 2020 campaign asked a federal court for an emergency order to keep Los Angeles County polls open an extra two hours because of unusually long wait times.
Despite the request, L.A. County Registrar Dean Logan said that they had decided not to extend poll hours in a Tuesday evening press conference. Logan apologized to voters who were still waiting in line.
"I think that to have extended the hours would have just extended the lines, perhaps, and really wouldn't have addressed the core issues," Logan said.
In a complaint filed just before polls were scheduled to close at 8 p.m., the Sanders campaign said voters at multiple locations had waited up to four hours to cast their votes. They said if a court doesn't intervene to force polls to stay open until 10 p.m., "County voters’ right to participate in our democracy will be immediately and irreparably harmed," the complaint reads.
Sites mentioned in the complaint with long lines and other problems include:
- Logan Elementary School in Echo Park
- Evergreen Recreation Center on East 2nd Street
- Echo Park Recreation Center
- Mayberry Elementary
- Santa Monica Community College
- True Friendship Missionary Baptist Church
- Santa Monica Virginia Park
- Ackerman Union on 308 Westwood Plaza
- St Charles Borromeo Church
- Plummer Park Community Center
- Sherman Oaks East Valley Adult Center
- Crenshaw Mall
- Buena Vista Library in Burbank
- Elysian Masonic Lodge
- Yucca Community Center
- Cal State University North Ridge
- Westchester Senior Center
By law, polling places in California must allow people to vote who are in line by 8 p.m. The Sanders campaign wanted polling places to offer provisional ballots to any voters who arrived after 8 p.m.
READ THE COMPLAINT:
Sponsored message
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our connected community. We are free to tell the full truth, to hold power to account without fear or favor, and to follow facts wherever they lead. Our only loyalty is to our audiences and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen our community.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Your tax-deductible donation keeps LAist independent and accessible to everyone.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
