Sanders asks court to keep Los Angeles County polls open after voting delays

Published 03/04/2020, 01:36 AM
© Reuters. An electronic voting machine that is out of order is seen during Super Tuesday elections in Los Angeles

By Tim Reid and Sharon Bernstein

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' campaign requested an emergency injunction on Tuesday asking for polls in Los Angeles County to stay open for an extra two hours after reports of delays and long lines.

The county is one of several big jurisdictions in California that used new voting machines and procedures in the 14-state Super Tuesday primary, a day when millions turned out to vote.

It was not immediately clear if the injunction had been granted; elections officials did not respond to requests for comment and online court filings did not show a response from the judge.

(Get all the Super Tuesday action: https://www.reuters.com/live-events/super-tuesday-id2923975)

Polls in California, the largest prize in the Super Tuesday nominating contest, officially closed at 8 p.m. PT (0400 GMT) but voting rules allowed anyone in line at that time to cast a ballot.

The Sanders campaign alleged in papers filed in Los Angeles federal court that "multiple polling locations in the County have experienced extreme wait times for individuals to vote, including wait times up to four hours to cast a ballot."

Other problems plagued voting centers in several California counties for about 90 minutes on Tuesday morning, said Sam Mahood, spokesman for the California secretary of state's office.

Vote centers in fifteen counties, including Sacramento, had connectivity issues with the state's voter registration database, making it difficult to check voters into centers and update records. There was no evidence of malicious activity, Mahood said.

According to the Sanders complaint, voting machines malfunctioned or arrived late, check-in technology broke down, and there was a shortage of paper around Los Angeles County, California's largest with 5.4 million voters.

"This is the first time these voting systems have been used on a wide scale at polling locations throughout the county," the complaint stated.

© Reuters. An electronic voting machine that is out of order is seen during Super Tuesday elections in Los Angeles

"The new technology has resulted in problems because of check-in stations not working and machine failures, with insufficient or overwhelmed tech support and an inability to implement back-ups."

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2025 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.