Demand High for Early Voting
By GWEN MURANAKA
RAFU ENGLISH EDITOR IN CHIEF
Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008

L.A. County Clerk extends early voting hours due to record-breaking demand.

MARIO G. REYES/Rafu Shimpo
A line of voters walk to the polling place at the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk headquarters in Norwalk on Wednesday. The county clerk's office has extended early voting hours this week due to record-breaking demand to vote early in the Nov. 4 general election.

Shading their eyes from the sun or studying voter information pamphlets, several hundred voters patiently lined up on Wednesday in front of the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk headquarters in Norwalk to vote early for the Nov. 4 election.

Marcia Ventura, a county spokesperson, said they have seen record-breaking demand for mail-in ballots with nearly 1 million requests; the last day to request a mail-in ballot was Tuesday. The office has also seen a record turnout of early voters. Because of this, the Norwalk office has extended their hours to vote on Friday and Saturday.

To speed up the process, Ventura suggested mark­ing the sample ballot ahead of time and to try coming during the middle of the day when demand is not as high.

Hours of operation on Friday, Oct. 31 and Saturday, Nov. 1 will be 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Early voting will also be available Sunday, Nov. 2, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hours on Thursday, Oct. 30 and Monday, Nov. 3 will remain 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The office is located at 12400 Imperial Hwy., Norwalk, CA90650.

Emily Morishima, a graduate student at UCLA, had a book to read as she waited in the long line of early voters. Standing near the front of the line, Morishima estimated she had been waiting about an hour.

“I’m early voting because I’m going to be out on election day running a phone bank for Barack Obama,” Morishima said. “It’s exciting, this is the first election I’ve really been involved in.”

“He appeals to a broad demographic. What appeals to me as an Asian American is that he is able to bring different people to the table and his decision-making style tends to be very level-headed and I think he care­fully considers decisions. That to me as a voter is what I want to see in a president.”

Towards the end of the line, Joey Eusebio, a Filipino American from Carson, was still weighing his choice for president. He said he was voting early because he would be out of town next Tuesday.

“Right now I still haven’t made up my mind. But the way the economy is going, I think we need a change. (John) McCain is a Republican, Obama is Democrat. I don’t know, I’m going to go with who is going to change the economy,” said Eusebio.

Lyndon Pham of Mar Vista noted problems with vot­ing in previous elections as a reason to vote early.

“Voting is a responsibility and I wanted to get it out of the way early. I wanted to avoid any calamities that might happen on the fourth,” said Pham. “It’s an impor­tant election and it will bring out record numbers. For the sake of getting it done early and just so it’s off my list, I came out here to vote.”

Further information, regarding early voting and vote by mail services, can be obtained by going online at www.lavote.net or by calling (800) 815-2666.