Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder officials stated Sunday that two incidents of attempted election interference may have occurred in Long Beach and elsewhere before the June 2 primary election.
\nThe county registrar-recorder said the burned votes were found during the normal collection of ballots at an official ballot drop box at the Department of Public Social Services-Civic Center in Los Angeles.
\n\u201cStaff identified a limited number of vote-by-mail ballots that appeared to have sustained fire-related damage,\u201d the county registrar-recorder said.<\/p>\n
The fire occurred somewhere between the last ballot pickup Saturday and the first ballot pickup Sunday and included a \u201csmall number\u201d of ballots, officials said.
\nVandalism was discovered Sunday morning at the voting center in Long Beach\u2019s Cesar E. Chavez Park.
\nThe county registrar-recorder\u2019s office said election workers responded and voting operations were uninterrupted.<\/p>\n
The county registrar-recorder said that it is \u201ccarefully reviewing both incidents and working to identify any voters who may have been affected.\u201d<\/p>\n
Voters who were affected by the fire will be contacted individually and given instructions on how to vote again.
\n\u201cReplacement ballots are possible,\u201d remarked the county registrar-recorder.
\nThe county registrar-recorder has filed reports with the LAPD in the wake of the incidents.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles County Clerk Dean Logan issued a statement Sunday alerting the public that attempts to interfere with voters, damage election infrastructure, or vandalize polling facilities \u201cwill not be tolerated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur responsibility is to protect voters and ensure every eligible voter has the opportunity to cast a ballot,\u201d Logan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny attempt to interfere with voting or election operations is taken seriously. We will continue working closely with law enforcement and other partners to safeguard the voting process and ensure voters can participate with confidence,\u201d Logan said.<\/p>\n
The public is encouraged to report any suspicious activity involving election materials, election facilities, or voting operations to the county registrar-recorder by calling (800) 815-2666.<\/p>\n
Following the release of two polls last week that blew the California governor\u2019s race and the Los Angeles mayor\u2019s race wide open, several unanticipated scenarios are suddenly in play.<\/p>\n
A poll from The UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found the mayor\u2019s race was practically tied between mayor Karen Bass, former reality star Spencer Pratt, and councilmember Nithya Raman, eliminating what earlier polls said was a large lead for Bass.<\/p>\n
The Berkeley IGS poll showed that in the governor\u2019s race, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra led with 25% of likely voters, followed by Republican commentator Steve Hilton (21%) and billionaire investor Tom Steyer (19%), suggesting that two Democrats making the run-off was still a possibility.<\/p>\n
In California, the top two vote-getters in the primary, regardless of party, advance to the runoff.<\/p>\n
But a California Post poll, issued Friday and taken with McLaughlin & Associates, found Pratt with a little edge in the mayor\u2019s race, 30.1% to Bass\u2019 29.5%. Raman was also third with 23.4% support.<\/p>\n
In the California Post survey for the governor\u2019s campaign, Hilton and Steyer tied for first place with 25% support apiece, while Becerra, who\u2019s been considered a favorite to win, was third with 19%.<\/p>\n
The long and short of it: this may go any number of ways.<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles mayoral race is being closely watched.<\/p>\n
If Pratt pulls off the upset on Tuesday night, it may go down as the most expensive political race in modern American history, with the top two candidates facing off in November\u2019s general election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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