It will be a stormy L.A. election day for the first time in years. Will rain hurt turnout?
The early voting is underway now, and many people are already in line at the polls. I live in San Gabriel, near downtown, and I’ve heard that many people are voting at the same time as me. However, I got a better idea on Friday when I took my usual route to the Downtown-Airport Expressway and the Civic Center and started looking for people who were voting.
I saw people at the gas stations, at the mall, and at our gas station that is located very close to the post office. At least 90 people showed up to vote early. I heard that many more people voted at the polling place in Los Angeles Memorial Park.
These were the only two places in L.A. where we are voting early today.
A lot of people had the same story. They were driving to get registered and to vote. Many were taking their lunch break at work. There were so many people who had decided on early voting.
“But when I left at 5 P.M. at work, the line wasn’t as long as it is now,” an employee at a bank nearby who didn’t want to be identified told me. “Usually everyone goes home after a 15-minute lunch break and comes right back when the polls open.”
People don’t always stick with the same strategy.
“My husband and I voted early, but we decided to come back later on Friday after we saw more people voting early,” a woman told me.
“The traffic on Crenshaw Boulevard is so bad, but it’s not too bad in the neighborhood,” another woman told me. “But we voted early, and we are going to vote more early next year.”
I did get one piece of good news: The polls opened at 7:15 and voting started at 7:55 A.M.
The earliest start time in years will give people a chance to catch up on sleep or to eat something.
