California primary voters start marking their ballots
The lines are long at some spots after the polls' 7 a.m. opening.
California voters began casting ballots shortly after 7 a.m. this morning in the state's much anticipated presidential primary, with long lines forming at some polling places.
"At this point there are no problems in L.A. County to my knowledge. Everything is running smoothly," said Grace Chavez, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder's office, who said it was too early to tell what the turnout might be.
But early voter Kristen Bell, 37, of Los Angeles said she was angry she had to cast a provisional ballot at her Beverly Hills polling place after being told that some poll workers had failed to show up at the La Cienega Tennis Center location.
Bell, a registered Democrat, said she voted for Sen. Barack Obama. She said she and her husband were among more than a dozen voters who were told they needed to vote provisionally because the "yellow table" for their precinct was not staffed. She said she was upset because provisional ballots are counted last.
"When you see the little percentage bars on the TV, that's not our vote; it's not in there," said Bell, adding that when she called the 800 number on her ballot to try to report the problem she ended up back at the opening menu. "There's so much frustration in this country, so to feel like I'm a disenfranchised voter in Beverly Hills is ridiculous."
Chavez, the spokeswoman for the registrar, said that "provisional votes are there so we don't disenfranchise the voter."
"We know life happens, difficulties and emergencies arise," she said, adding that she was not aware of other complaints from voters in similar situations. "If everything pans out, those provisionals will be processed and those ballots counted."
At a Sunland senior center, the doors opened to less than a dozen early voters. Voting took place in the center's assembly room under an array of paper hearts suspended from the ceiling.
Debbie Gustaveson, 56, of Lakeview Terrace said she was in a hurry to get to her job as a teacher at nearby Trinity Christian School.
Gustaveson, a registered Republican, voted for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney because she considers his conservative moral values closest to her own. However, she said she considered her choices "OK, but it's not the best this year."
Still, she said, "I'll always stick to my party, whoever they offer."
