The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/Clerk’s Office unveiled a massive new ballot processing center on Tuesday that will allow it to count ballots from the county’s 5.69 million registered voters in a single secure location.
The 144,000-square-foot warehouse, located in the City of Industry, aims to enhance election integrity by eliminating the need to transport ballots to multiple sites and allowing the public to observe all steps of the counting process.
While public officials gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday morning, the facility was already quietly humming with activity as election workers transported, tallied and verified the signatures of vote-by-mail ballots returned for the March 5 primary election.
“This ceremony signifies more than just the unveiling of a facility, it marks the commitment of Los Angeles County to uphold democracy through precision and transparency in vote processing,” said Dean Logan L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/Clerk.
L to R, Christy McCormick, Commissioner, Election Assistance Commission, Hilda Solis, LA County Supervisor, and Dan Logan Registrar-Recorder for Los Angeles County, tour the new Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center in the City of Industry on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
When the county initially launched a dramatic expansion of its vote-by-mail program during the pandemic, ballots were processed at the Pomona County fairgrounds, counted at the County Clerk’s Downey office and then stored at the clerk’s election operations center in Santa Fe Springs, said Logan.
“Those activities are now all consolidated here, so you can actually see, from beginning to end, the processing of the ballots,” said Logan. “I think that is a bold and important thing.”
Members of the public can observe the count in person or on five different livestreamed cameras located throughout the center during regular operating hours, which are 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. These hours will be extended in the runup to the March 5 Primary Election and more information on schedules can be found at lavote.gov.
“It is so important to the integrity of our voting process that we have the ability, the leadership, the institutional commitment and the funding to make this (center) happen, because right now there’s no doubt in my mind that many people are questioning the authenticity, transparency and the ethics behind voting,” said L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis.
Hilda Solis, LA Country Supervisor, speaks at the opening of the new Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center in the City of Industry on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The new facility will handle all ballots for both the March 5 Primary Election and the Nov. 5 General Election and employ over 700 seasonal workers when operating at full capacity, said Logan.
Logan urged all residents to participate in the March 5 election, reminding them that several local races will be won in the primary and will not advance to the November General Election.
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“It’s important for voters to know that we want your voice heard in those contests and the March 5 election is the opportunity to do that,” he said.
L.A. County Election Assistance Commissioner Christy McCormick encouraged residents to get involved in the election by either signing up to staff their local vote center or by observing the ballot counting process.
“We are in a time where people are concerned about competence in elections and this is a way that people can become more confident that their elections are run safely and securely,” she said. “Get involved, see the process, find out for yourself how it works and help your community.”
The center has several layers of security to protect both the ballots and the election workers. This includes 24-7 surveillance and a partnership with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s K-9 team, which provides trained dogs to sniff every shipment of ballots for potential toxic substances.
A drug sniffing dog checks all incoming ballots at the new Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center in the City of Industry on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
In November 2023, the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/Clerk was targeted by by a national mail threat where envelopes containing fentanyl were sent to election offices in five different states.
Vote-by-mail ballots were sent to all registered L.A. County voters earlier this month. They can be returned in the mail, at a VBM drop box or at a vote center.
Early voting centers will begin operating on Feb. 24 and the remainder of vote centers will open on March 2. A map of all vote boxes and centers can be found at lavote.gov.
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