Election Day In Los Angeles: Everything You Need To Know

LOS ANGELES, CA — Election day is here, but Angelenos are already poised to shatter voting records in the Nov. 3 election. A full week before the election, 1,857,573 voters had already mailed in their ballots, and more than 116,000 residents voted at early voting centers the first weekend of early voting.

Mail-in and early voting has eclipsed totals from previous years, leading experts to anticipate record turnout. Fears surrounding pandemic voting and alarm triggered by the U.S. Postal Service slowdown likely led to record numbers casting their votes before election day and by mail. While the presidential race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden is the main draw, Los Angeles County has one very competitive congressional race in the 25th District at the northern border, the countywide Measure J, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's race and dozens of local measures and city council and school board races from across the county.

• Find your nearest voting center and check out the wait time before you head out using the county's Vote Center Locator Tool
• Want to double-check that your absentee ballot has been received? Track it here.

There are also a dozen statewide ballot measures that will have profound impacts in Los Angeles, including Proposition 22, governing Uber and Lyft's business models, Proposition 16 ending the state's ban on affirmative action, Proposition 21 expanding rent control, and Propositions 15 and 19, billion dollar measures affecting commercial and residential property taxes for millions of Californians.

Though the early voting may reduce lines at voting centers on election day, the process has had some notable hiccups. Early on, about 2,100 voters received faulty mail-in ballots missing the presidential race. And the California Republican Party picked a fight with the Secretary of State when they placed unofficial ballot drop-off boxes at churches and gun stores around Los Angeles and neighboring counties. And just a few weeks before election day, an arson fire destroyed ballots inside an official Vote by Mail Drop Box outside the Baldwin Park Library.

• LA County's Measure J Explained
• Candidate Profile: DA Jackie Lacey In Her Own Words
• LA DA Candidate Profile: George Gascón In His Own Words
• Vote Centers In Los Angeles: Where To Vote In Person 2020
• Reform Takes Center Stage In Heated LA District Attorney's Race

Authorities in Los Angeles are also preparing for any potential civil unrest on or after election day.

"The most important aspect in our democracy is an election, a right to vote," LAPD Chief Michel Moore told county leaders earlier this month. "We are safe."

The law enforcement community statewide is working together to prepare for contingencies including protest groups that may become violent, he said. The department is working with the Registrar Recorder/County Clerk's office to ensure that people understand the rules of participating in an election and the ways they can vote, added Moore. If there are any disturbances, the LAPD is prepared to issue similar orders put in place in late May and early June due to protests over the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.

"We're working with all of our partners, both first responders, emergency partners as well as L.A. County (sheriffs) ... to talk about the approaching election cycle," Moore said.

Mayor Eric Garcetti assured voters there is "no intelligence" suggesting any sort of widespread plot to carry out violence or voter-intimidation locally during the upcoming election, but he said police will "prepare for the worst" while hoping for the best.

"We are very prepared for the elections, but at the same time, I don't want to buy into a narrative that there's going to be chaos during our elections," Garcetti said. "We prepare for the worst, but we are hoping and expect generally the best."

Garcetti said the Los Angeles Police Department will be prepared to respond to any incidents of violence or voter intimidation at the polls.

"But there's no intelligence of a widespread plot," Garcetti said. "... A lot of folks are saying, `should we shut down our businesses,' or `should we do X, Y and Z.' We are here as always. ... The city government will never stop working for you during this pandemic. And this is a critically important election."

Stay tuned to Patch on Election Day for results.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.