The only place to vote in the upcoming primary will be the small gym at the Palisades Recreation Center at 851 Alma Real. Masks will be required for this election. Social distancing will be enforced.
At the Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners meeting on October 15, the board approved the use of 34 Department of Recreation and Parks Facilities to host voting centers for the upcoming election.
Among those approved: the small gym at the Pacific Palisades Recreation Center.
Commissioner Joe Halper, a longtime resident, asked if the gym floors, which were recently refinished with a grant from the L.A. Clippers, would be protected from street shoes.
Darryl Ford, the superintendent of planning and construction for the City of L.A., said “We have used the centers before and didn’t have any damage.”
Halper answered, “I wanted an assurance and just got it.”
The use agreement between the County and RAP is October 24 through November 10. The only RAP staff involvement will be opening and shutting the front door, keeping the restrooms clean and wiping high touch surfaces outside of the voting space, such as door handles.
The County will be responsible for: 1) disinfecting the surfaces of all voting equipment including, but not limited to the Ballot Marking Devices, electronic pollbooks, and central ballot box after voter use, 2) disinfecting the chairs and tables found inside the voting space, 3) wiping high-touch areas inside the voting room such as door handles, light switches and countertops, 4) wherever feasible, doors and windows should be open during hours where election workers are present to increase airflow, 5) where possible, any [voter] lines should be maintained outdoors and where not feasible, lines will be socially distanced, and 6) floor markings will be used to assist voters with social distancing inside the vote center and where lines are present in a manner that does not damage the floor.
A Circling the News reader wanted to know if any additional polling sites would be available in Pacific Palisades. According to the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk site, this will be the sole polling place here.
A reminder: Mail-in and absentee ballots, in addition to being mailed, can be deposited at the small gym from October 30 through November 2 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on election day, November 3, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Ballots may also be dropped in the secured vote-by-mail box in front of the Palisades Library, 861 Alma Real, which is open.
This box by the library is specifically for mail-in-ballots for the November election.
We need to get our regular polling places back. I would like an explanation for why we must all now use one polling place.
L.A. County is in charge of polling places–and when they went to the new system that allows for week-long voting, it seems that they feel that will be more effective in reaching voters. It would be a good question for L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl–Palisades’ supervisor.