Problems cropped up at the very top of the first hour of voting this morning.
The Mayor could not enter his polling location on the West Side.
Loni Anderson, one of nine candidates for the City Council, was forced to accept a provisional ballot because of a major flaw at her East Side polling place.
Community activist Alan Elmont, at a third different precinct, not only experienced exasperating difficulties, he was blocked out.
Meanwhile, at City Hall, you could see the handsomely coiffed Dep. City Clerk Ela Valladares growing grayer — or was it ashen? — as the opening complaints rolled down Culver Boulevard and through the front door.
Entering the last three weeks of his mayoralty term, not to mention the closing days of his eight years on the City Council, Mayor Alan Corlin is a notorious early riser.
He often prides himself in being first or second to vote, once the doors fling open at 7 o’clock.
Seven o’clock approached, arrived and ran away — and still Mr. Corlin could not vote.
Athletically inclined, he jumped a small fence, found an alternative entry and dashed inside the Grandview Palms nursing home to vote.
How did Mr. Corlin mark his ballot?
According to the signs on his lawn:
Andy Weissman
Jeff Cooper
Loni Anderson
Speaking of Ms. Anderson, when she showed up shortly after 7 at 3337 McManus Ave., her East Culver City polling place, the precinct workers did not have an “A” sheet, that is, a list of registered voters whose surname begins with the first letter of the alphabet.
The result: Ms. Anderson was forced to utilize a provisional ballot.
This means that at a point, her signature on her provisional ballot will have to be sent to the County Registrar’s office for verification, just as with all other residents who will use provisional ballots today for a variety of reasons.
Mr. Elmont, a candidate for the School Board last autumn, sends the following early morning missive:
“Are there irregularities occurring elsewhere?
“With dismay, concern and anger, I have just left my polling location, the Rotary Plaza, on Overland, having been unable to cast my vote!
“The nice people who told me they arrived at 6:30 a.m. to set up and run the polls were left abandoned by the City Clerk’s office.
“The ballots and materials had not been delivered.
“This is an affront to democratic principles.
“Other than serious injury or death, which I pray is not the case, this is the height of irresponsibility.
“With elections occurring so infrequently, compounded by a generally low voter turnout by Culver City voters, it is quite disturbing that anyone charged with running the election could fail to execute their charge.
“I plan on returning to my polling place later today with hopes my ballot can then be cast.”