Jeremy Oberstein

Reader Gina Piccalo writes from Echo Park: Hi there. Just wanted to let you know - I waited in line for 30 minutes at the Allesandro polling spot alongside about 40 other (mostly hipster) neighbors. By 8:30, the machine that tallies the ballots had jammed and the polling staffer took great pains to show everyone she hadn't tampered with it. She had to feed the ballots manually. Not sure how that will impact counting votes.....

Long early voting lines Oct. 31 at the county clerk's office in Norwalk. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) 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...

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. Dean Logan, county clerk for the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder, said the his office is planing for what is expected to be record voter participation by equipping polling places with "sufficient numbers of ballots and a contingency plan...

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. We intend to carry on the traditions established by the founders of Democracy and the fathers (and mothers)...

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. Aren't districts already redrawn every so often? Yes....

Less than a minute into the opening track of Whispertown 2000's second full length album Swim, you start to wonder if this is another quartet of musical pretenders riding the coattails of more successful artists before them. Opening track "103," a country infused adage about the weariness and wariness of growing old, frolics playfully - guided by lead singer and guitarist Morgan Nagler's slyly beautiful voice. It's a love song for centenarians, ("When I'm...

With just 15 days to go until all polls become irrelevant, we kindly remind you that today is the last day to register to vote for the Nov. 4 general election. Fill out a voter registration card here; have a card mailed to you by clicking here; pick one up your county elections office, library, or post office; and read about the history of voting here....

"Modern energy.... old car," by citroenazu on Flickr 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...

Around the fourth inning of the National League Championship Series Monday night, as the hills north of Los Angeles continued to burn, Fox cameras panned to the dignitaries sitting in the luxury seats. With its usual host of celebrities and debutantes, the collection of upper crust was noteworthy for only one reason. Amongst the select crowd was Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who smiled as Derek Lowe was mowing down the Phillies; smiling as thousands...

Stoking the flames of independence, KCRW released its latest compilation album from live Morning Becomes Eclectic performances cut from twelve different in-studio acts. Crowd pleasers like The Shins and The Swell Season imbibe the album with not so new takes on their even older songs while Spoon and Indie Brits, The Orange Lights dig deep into their live repertoire to deliver interesting versions of their already strong songs. It is an album awash in...