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Second weekend of early voting looks as busy as the first
Early voters line up North Hollywood on the morning of Sunday, October 30, 2016.
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Photo by David Thibodeau via Twitter
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It's the second weekend of early voting in Southern California and by Saturday morning the Anaheim Civic Center was already bustling.
Joy McClarnon lined up before 7 a.m., hoping to avoid an Election Day wait.
"I don't have that kind of time," McClarnon tells our media partner NBC4. "I worked about 48 hours this week at work and I don't have that kind of time."
Last weekend, lines stretched out the door and around the block at early voting outposts in North Hollywood and Culver City.
One Instagram user @Chioma_ posted a video Saturday morning of the long lines at West L.A. college.
Another voter said she waited more than three hours to vote on Saturday at the North Hollywood Regional Library on Saturday.
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Jacqueline Selph arrived at the North Hollywood Library at 6:30 Sunday morning and said there were already a couple hundred people lined up. Then, the line grew.
"It went around the library as far as I could see, and then I couldn't see it anymore because they started lining up like a Disneyland sort of thing, and so at one point I tried to go to use the bathroom and it was all the way to the freeway," Selph tells KPCC.
In all, she says it took four hours from start to finish but her experience was pleasant.
Five locations in L.A. County are open again this weekend in addition to multiple locations in Orange County and the Inland Empire.
It's no wonder lines are so long. California hit a new record with 19.4 million people registering to vote, breaking the last federal election's record — 18.2 million registered voters — by more than a million people.
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla tells KPCC: "We were anticipating an increase this year. There's usually an increase in registration and voters turning out every presidential election cycle. But these numbers are clearly far above and beyond a normal presidential year increase."
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Padilla says registration jumped every time there was a Super Tuesday or a debate of some sort. He also credits social media companies like Facebook, which campaigns reminding users to vote.
Although the increase occurred across every demographic group — geography, ethnicity, etc. — Padilla says there was a "clear above and beyond increase in younger voters." Voters aged 18 to 25 and 18 to 35 could have a major impact on the election — but only if they turn out and vote.
Whether you're casting your ballot today or waiting until Tuesday, KPCC is here to help you prepare. You can create your own Voter Game Plan with thorough explainers about the 17 propositions on the ballot, run-downs of the eight judicial candidates and more.
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