So I went to my polling place at an off-hour to see if turnout was decent (it was pretty average, in my view). It was a new location for me, in a little art gallery featuring an exhibit called "Patriot Acts" (yes, a politically themed art installation in a polling place. Ah, the People's Republic of Santa Monica). I had no problem getting my ballot and heading to the booth. The guy behind me was a DTS (decline to state) voter who had no idea that Republicans didn't allow them to vote in the primary. "I wouldn't vote for the Republicans anyway," he yelled as he took a Democratic ballot. But nobody told him to make sure to fill out that Democratic oval to re-assert that he, as a nonpartisan voter, requested a Democratic ballot (as if taking the ballot in the first place wasn't enough of a clue). So I told him.
See, you have to fill in this obscure bubble on your ballot to have your vote count as a DTS voter in Los Angeles County. Otherwise, it won't, and since the ballot reader you personally witness doesn't record undervotes, you'll never know the difference.
UPDATE: To be clear, this problem is limited to Los Angeles County. Also, some are saying that people should just read the directions. That's absurd. They've already asserted their intent by asking for the ballot, they shouldn't have to do it twice. People don't always follow directions so well; it's a fact of life.
My neighbor was headed to the polls; she's also a DTS voter. I told her to make sure to fill out that Democratic oval. She said she kind of heard something about that but wasn't sure.
I've received more than a couple emails from DTS voters thanking me for telling them about the issue, or saying that they didn't fill out the bubble, asking me whether or not their votes will be counted.
This is a NIGHTMARE. An absolute nightmare. This has been in place since 2002, and somehow the evidence from 2004, when so few DTS voters participated in the Democratic primary in LA County, wasn't enough to dummy-proof the system. Thousands upon thousands of voters are going to be disenfranchised today. I can't reach them all; neither can the CDP. The Secretary of State must demand that all those DTS ballots are impounded, the machines recalibrated to eliminate this problem, and all votes reread through the feeder. In a race so close, we cannot have this crisis of confidence.
Here's the ballot, by the way:
(click to enlarge)
I just got off a conference call with the Obama campaign right now and they talked about this very issue. "There is great concern" in Los Angeles County, and "the pollworkers are confused" about this as well, according to the lawyer on the phone now (I would use the word "ignorant" and not confused). "We're hoping the Secretary of State and the County Registrar will rectify this situation" but they don't sound particularly hopeful.
DTS voters are also being denied ballots in selected counties, according to the campaign.
Carla Marinucci is wondering why this wasn't challenged previously. This has been in place in LA County in multiple election cycles, and knowing that DTS voters would show up in record numbers, I agree that it should have been caught earlier. My point is that the Secretary of State's office or the county registrar should have been the ones to catch it. The lawyer just said "We hope that they will adopt procedures to make sure these ballots are counted," and if they aren't adopted, he raised the option of legal challenges.
These ballots almost certainly won't be counted tonight, and keep that in mind when you start seeing the results roll in.
The campaigns are hoping that the media gets this out. I'm trying.
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: I'm going to try and clarify this a bit. LA County has an "inka-vote" system. You get a scan tron sheet and then line it up at the voting booth, and then fill out the ballot that you see above. At the end of the process, you have a scan-tron sheet with a bunch of dots filled out on it. So that gets fed into the feeder in front of you, and if it's OK it'll say "ballot successful".
DTS voters and Democratic voters have the same "ballot" but DIFFERENT TYPE SCAN-TRON SHEETS. For a DTS voter who didn't fill out that bubble, they won't find out at that time because the ballot feeder doesn't count the undervote.
This was figured out by a law student who referred it to the Courage Campaign over the weekend, nobody on any campaign or the elections officials caught it.
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: I just got off the phone with our pal thereisnospoon, an Obama precinct captain. He informs me that all Obama precinct captains in LA County are aware of this, and they are fanning out to poll sites to educate pollworkers about this problem.
If anyone knows about anything the Clinton campaign is doing, please email me or leave a comment and I'll update. I think this was referring to a different issue (there were other glitches reported in LA County today), but it's not encouraging:
From the inbox: This is really weird. From the Clinton campaign:
4:25 PM EST HILLARY WIRE UPDATE…
* False reports about voting problems in LA are being drudged up
– Everything is going smoothly in LA.
I hope they wake up to what's happening.
UPDATE ETC: I get emails, from the CA field director for Obama, Buffy Wicks:
Californians have reported problems voting as "Decline to State" voters, commonly referred to as "unaffiliated," "independent" or "non-partisan" voters.
Please read this email for clarification of how "Decline to State" (DTS) voters can vote in today's election for Barack Obama. Even if you've already voted, please make sure this information gets to as many voters as possible.
DTS voters have the right to vote for Barack Obama in the Democratic Presidential Primary.
DTS voters must identify themselves as DTS or non-partisan voters and ask to vote in the Democratic Presidential Primary when they arrive at their polling location. They will get instructions from a poll worker on how to vote in the Democratic Primary. If a voter gets into the voting booth and finds that he or she does not have an option to vote for Barack Obama, the voter should not cast his or her ballot. Instead, he or she should return the partially filled-out or unmarked ballot to the poll worker, and ask the poll worker to seek clarification from the supervisor at the polling location or from the County Registrar of Voters.
In Los Angeles County, DTS voters will be given a non-partisan ballot which they must take into a "Democratic" booth. They must mark both the "Democratic" bubble and the bubble for Barack Obama.
If you or anyone you know has any problems voting today, please contact the local County Registrar of Voters or one of our election protection hotlines at:
Los Angeles:
310-801-9546
310-779-0816
San Francisco/Bay Area:
415-606-6043
Oakland/East Bay Area:
510-520-5025
San Diego:
619-770-7105
Or email electionprotection@obamaca.com
Thank you for your support.
UPDATE: The city attorney of Los Angeles, Rocky Delgadillo (who, in the interest of disclosure, is an Obama supporter), issued this statement.
Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo Tuesday issued the following statement in the wake of numerous reports of wide-spread nonpartisan voter confusion over Los Angeles County's "double bubble" voter ballot:
"I have heard numerous reports from voters throughout the City of Los Angeles which point to wide-spread voter confusion over Los Angeles County's so-called 'double-bubble' Decline-to-State non-partisan voter ballot. We understand this ballot is unique to the County of Los Angeles.
"In light of these reports, I am calling upon Secretary of State Debra Bowen and L.A. County Registrar Dean Logan to review the county's unique and potentially confusing ballot design.
"It would be unfortunate if non-partisan voters, confused by the county's unique "double bubble" ballot design, did not have their vote counted.
"I urge the Secretary of State and County Registrar to do everything within their power to ensure that every vote is counted, and to carefully weigh voter intent against this confusing Los Angeles County ballot design.
"Los Angeles' non-partisan voters must not be disenfranchised because of a confusing ballot design."
One important thing to remember is that the more attention that gets paid to this, the more likelihood that the registrar and the Secretary of State will act in the proper fashion to ensure these votes are counted. But these votes will not be counted tonight... keep that in mind. California is unlikely to be called in any meaningful way tonight.