Polling Places

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Istanbul, Turkey -- Afghan election officials today announced their first mass disqualification of votes because of possible fraud in the bitterly contested presidential race, even as President Hamid Karzai edged closer to the absolute majority he needs for a first-round victory. Election authorities declined to say how many votes were affected when results from nearly 450 polling places were set aside pending an investigation. Because voting took place in about 26,000 locales, this probably represents only a small share of total ballots cast.

The campaign to succeed the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is underway, and as with past campaigns in that country, passions are running high. Vice President Nicolas Maduro and opposition candidate Henrique Capriles exchange near-daily attacks, each accusing the other of everything from plotting murder to planning coups. But unlike in previous elections, the National Election Council has not invited international monitors to observe the April 14 vote. Instead, it has asked a handful of individuals and the Union of South American Nations to "accompany" the process - a far more limited role that does not provide them full and free access to polling places and does not allow them to make public statements questioning or criticizing the process.

California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley said Thursday that his office will send two investigators to monitor activities at polling places during Santa Ana Unified School District's recall election of trustee Nativo Lopez on Tuesday. The campaigns have generated complaints from both sides and the monitoring is a precaution to ensure the vote's integrity, Shelley said. Both sides have traded accusations of intimidation and of tearing up each other's campaign signs.

A 35-year-old poll worker was shot at a polling station at a Watts elementary school Tuesday morning in an incident that police described as a "domestic dispute. " The shooting at 92nd Street Elementary School in the 9200 block of Grape Street occurred shortly before 9:40 a.m. LAPD Capt. Phillip Tingirides said the shooting was believed to have occurred during an argument outside the school's auditorium. The victim then ran into the polling place where he was working. He was taken to a local hospital.

The June primary is fast approaching and Ventura County's elections division is seeking volunteers to work polling places. The division is seeking up to 2,000 volunteers to serve as election officers at polling places June 7, elections assistant Georgia Dennehey said. "People just aren't thinking about elections right now," she said. "So we're trying to get the word out that we need volunteers." To qualify to volunteer, you must be a U. S.

City voters left homeless by last week's devastating fire can cast their ballots in today's election at previously designated polling places or at the Orange County Registrar of Voters' office in Santa Ana. Those temporarily living outside the area can go to the registrar's office at 1300 S. Grand Ave. in Santa Ana to file an absentee ballot. For voters who plan to use their normal polling place, no identification will be required.

Voters accustomed to visiting their neighborhood polling places may have to go a little farther to cast their ballots Tuesday, when less than half the usual number of polling places will be open for the off-year election. County officials say there will be 872 polling places open on Tuesday, compared to about 2,150 in a primary or general election with national or statewide races, and fewer than in any countywide election this decade.

As I have been a precinct worker for many years, I was sorry to hear of the problems in the last primary ("Registrar Apologizes for Election Day Problems," March 13). I guess we were lucky. Except for the confusing ballot, things went pretty well. My experience has been that the registrar's staff has been efficient and driven to make voting a pleasant experience. What is needed is more people to volunteer (and show up). It's one day out of your life, it's patriotic and can be fun. I always feel that I have given back a little of what my country has given to me. Try it. Martin Leib Valley Village Speaking as a person who has served as a polling place inspector many times, I am appalled at the criticism heaped on Registrar-Recorder Conny McCormack.

A U.S. Justice Department attorney investigating the Orange County Republican Party's 1988 placement of uniformed guards at polling places in Latino neighborhoods said in a recent letter that "it will be difficult" to bring criminal charges in the case. In the first comment about the nearly two-year criminal investigation, U.S. Deputy Assistant Atty. Gen. Bruce C.

A bill that would outlaw unsanctioned guards at polling places was passed by an Assembly committee on Wednesday. Committee member Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove), on whose behalf uniformed security guards were hired for the Nov. 8 election, was not present for the vote. However, he did add his vote later in the afternoon, making the final vote 7 to 0. The bill "is completely and totally political," Pringle, who won the election by fewer than 900 votes, said Wednesday. "By voting for this bill, I'm not admitting somebody did something wrong or something wasn't right."

Turn into the winding driveway hidden by foliage and a man in a suit greets you before offering complimentary valet parking. Staff members in lavender polo shirts guide you to a hallway where smoked salmon sandwiches garnished with olives and cucumbers await. Ceramic platters of cookies are plentiful and salads are served in Asian takeout boxes paired with chopsticks. Tiny jars of honey are available to accompany your tea. This is voting, Brentwood-style. "It just makes it an experience," said Erla Perez as she noshed on a salad at the Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel, located in one of Los Angeles' most affluent neighborhoods.

WASHINGTON - A federal judge ordered the battleground state of Ohio to open its polling places three days before the Nov. 6 election, giving a victory to the Obama campaign and marking the sixth ruling in recent weeks to block or void new voting rules set by Republican-dominated state legislatures. Friday's decision restores early voting on the final weekend and Monday before election day, a time when more than 93,000 Ohio voters cast ballots in 2008. Last week, a three-judge court restored weekend early voting in parts of Florida that are subject to the Voting Rights Act. And on Wednesday, another Florida judge voided part of a state law that would have prevented groups such as the League of Women Voters from registering new voters.

Polls will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Information on polling places and other election matters can be found on the following websites for Los Angeles County; Orange County; Riverside County; San Bernardino County; and Ventura County.

For much of Tuesday morning, Manchester's Webster School was ground zero in the New Hampshire primary, with visits from a trio of presidential hopefuls, campaign volunteers, throngs of media and, yes, even some voters. Front-running hopeful Mitt Romney made just a brief stop at a polling place here, where his "fire people" comment continued to dog him. Asked about the previous day's statement by a reporter just after Romney emerged from his campaign bus, he said: "I was talking about, as you know, insurance companies.

Mitt Romney rolled to a convincing victory in the New Hampshire primary, taking a broad stride toward capturing the GOP presidential nomination as the contest heads south for a pair of potentially make-or-break contests. The win Tuesday gave Romney a one-two sweep in the leadoff voting of the 2012 campaign, a first for any Republican apart from a sitting president, as the race moved to South Carolina and Florida. The conservative candidates who stand the best chance to stop him there — former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry — were trailing far back and appeared unlikely to get a significant lift from their performances here.

Rocked by mass opposition rallies, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pledged Thursday to slightly loosen the Kremlin's grip on power as he launches his campaign to return to the presidency in a March election. On Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Moscow to rail against Putin, who served as president for eight years beginning in 2000, and to protest alleged fraud in recent parliamentary elections that saw his United Russia party garner nearly 50% of the vote.

In an effort to encourage more people to open up their homes for polling places for the April 8 election, the City Council Monday raised the compensation for rental from $30 to $100. The council also approved the increase of election compensation for judges and clerks from $35 to $45 and inspectors from $40 to $50. The move was necessary because many of the residents that opened up their homes for years have decided not to do so this year for various reasons, City Clerk Martha Gutierrez said.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman zipped around Southern California on Monday, telling her volunteers that their efforts would push her to victory on election day. "So are you ready to get California moving again? I'm ready, are you?" she asked dozens gathered at a phone bank in a Woodland Hills strip mall. "This is exciting and I want to thank you for everything you are doing. Whose hands is this election in? Yours. ? We are going to win this because we're going to turn out the vote.

Scattered violence and a seemingly low turnout marked Afghanistan's vote to elect a new parliament Saturday, despite a heavy security presence and appeals from Afghan and Western officials for people to come out and vote. The governor of Kandahar, the province where the Taliban movement was born, escaped a bombing as he traveled from one polling center to another, seeking to demonstrate it was safe to cast a ballot. Dozens of rockets fell on Kandahar city throughout the day, and also hit near polling centers in the country's north and east.