<\/p>\n
An empty vote center in Glassell Park, during a previous election.<\/p>\n
Photo by Volker Corell<\/p>\n
This<\/a>\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0was originally published by\u00a0Boyle Heights Beat<\/a>, a nonprofit newsroom of the L.A. Local News Initiative serving Boyle Heights and East L.A., on October 6.<\/p>\n Boyle Heights residents seeking to vote in person in the Nov. 4 special election will have to travel to East Los Angeles, Downtown L.A., or another Eastside neighborhood for the nearest vote center, as no polling place will be located in their community.<\/p>\n
Community groups raise the alarm<\/p>\n The news has alarmed local organizers, including InnerCity Struggle, a Boyle Heights-based group that conducts voter outreach in the Eastside. Members of the organization discovered the community\u2019s lack of vote centers last Friday while reviewing the\u00a0L.A. County Vote Centers map<\/a>.<\/p>\n “It creates additional and unnecessary challenges for our community to vote, especially in Boyle Heights, a predominantly pedestrian community,” said Henry Perez, executive director of InnerCity Struggle. “When voters don\u2019t see a voting location near them or within walking distance, this will just create a lot of discouragement for them to vote.”<\/p>\n Perez said voters may decide it\u2019s too difficult for them to get to a polling location, adding that\u00a0immigration raids are contributing to the stress and anxiety that residents are experiencing when it comes to traveling.<\/p>\n Officials confirm fewer vote centers across L.A.<\/p>\n Mike Sanchez, the senior public information specialist for the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder\/County Clerk, confirmed there will be fewer vote centers across the county this year compared with the 2024 general election.<\/p>\n Sanchez said 250 vote centers are listed across L.A. County for the upcoming special election, including 111 that will open this Saturday. Last year\u2019s general election had more than 640.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sanchez said it takes months to identify facilities that could operate as vote centers. Criteria include having enough space to accommodate equipment, having network capability, and being near public transportation, he said.<\/p>\n “The special election is not something we had in our calendar at the beginning of the year,” said Sanchez. “That impacts election offices\u2019 ability to recruit and select voting locations.”<\/p>\n He explained that the county registrar-recorder reached out to a community space in Boyle Heights that has historically served as a vote center, but “unfortunately, they were unavailable to serve as a vote center in this election.”<\/p>\n “The voter locations that we have set [for the special election] are not going to change,” he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Voters to decide on Proposition 50\u00a0<\/p>\n On the ballot is Proposition 50, a measure that, if passed, would redraw California\u2019s congressional maps to help Democrats win more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gov. Gavin Newsom launched the effort behind Proposition 50 after the Texas state Legislature approved new maps that would give Republicans an advantage in the 2026 midterm elections. California\u2019s state Legislature approved the new maps in August,\u00a0as LAist reported.<\/a><\/p>\n Unlike Texas, however, redistricting in California is supposed to happen through an\u00a0independent redistricting commission<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 a politically balanced group of citizens who are not connected to political office. Voters approved the nonpartisan system in 2008, so they need to approve any proposed changes to it. That\u2019s why Proposition 50 is on the ballot this year, according to LAist.<\/p>\n Calls for equity\u00a0<\/p>\n Perez understands the fact that there will be fewer voting polls during the special election, but he said, the county registrar “should consider how to distribute voting polls in an equitable manner \u2026 considering mobility factors and current safety factors related to ICE raids that our predominantly Latinx immigrant communities are facing in Boyle Heights.”<\/p>\n Typically, vote centers in Boyle Heights have been located in churches, schools, parks, and libraries. “This is the first time, I\u2019m aware of, that there is absolutely no polling location in Boyle Heights,” Perez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “The community has been able to go within walking distance of their homes and vote,” Perez added.<\/p>\n Perez said there should be a minimum of three polling locations in Boyle Heights for the special election, spread through the north and south ends, as well as in central Boyle Heights.\u00a0<\/p>\n Currently, there are no concrete plans to help voters get to polling locations in the general area, Perez said, adding that they\u2019re focusing on “letting voters know that there is an election.”<\/p>\n “We absolutely plan on contacting our elected representatives to express our shock, our disappointment, our frustration,” Perez said. “We encourage them to immediately work together to figure something out so that Boyle Heights does get to the voting polls before the election arrives.”<\/p>\n Find a vote center\u00a0nearby<\/p>\n
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