Last night the board of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council conducted a special meeting to address questions about ballot issues for the upcoming March 16 elections. The meeting was prompted by numerous reports of incorrect ballots being sent to residents of Hancock Park and other neighborhoods.
City Clerk election officials Sofia Anguiano, Renee McDade and Lanee Basulto did their best to assure residents that a seasoned team of election staff is now on hand to address any issues that GWNC voters may have in securing a ballot to cast their votes by mail.
Neighborhood council elections are never easy,  explained Anguiano, who has worked on neighborhood council elections since 2008. Voter eligibility rules vary among the 98 neighborhood councils in the city, with roughly 60 percent requiring documentation that a voter is a legitimate stakeholder in the neighborhood council area. The remaining 40 percent allow self-affirmation, under which voters do not need to show any documents in order to vote. They merely self-affirm their identity and qualification to vote on the registration form. Anguiano said that once she became aware of the ballot issues in this election, she assembled a seasoned team of staff to review all the ballot requests and contact voters individually.
Everyone who will be age 18 by March 16 and lives, works, or owns property in the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council area is eligible to vote for one of the 15 area representatives on the GWNC board. And many voters are entitled to two ballots; one for the area where they live or rent, and one for one of the five special interest seats representing Renters, Businesses, Non-Profit, Religious, and Education organizations, or the At Large representative.
Several esidents in the Hancock Park neighborhood told the Buzz they had requested ballots to vote for the Non-Profit representative, but were given ballots for the At Large representative instead. Anguiano said some of the mistakes could have come from clerical errors in her office, or registration errors from the voters requesting ballots. However, she said voters who got the wrong ballots should contact the City Clerk’s office by email at [email protected]Â or by phone at (213) 978-0444. And she assured skeptical board members that trained staff is now on hand to answer calls and emails promptly. The deadline to request a ballot is March 9.
The GWNC’s Hancock Park representative, Jennifer Devore, expressed concern about the legality of the election since there were so many issues with the ballots. Later in the meeting, she put forth a motion to formally objecting to the election. That motion passed, along with another motion requesting the City Clerk’s office to provide a staff person at the drop box to fix balot problems, extend the deadline for receiving properly postmarked ballots from the16th to the 23rd of March instead, and provide an accounting of the number of ballots not received by the deadline.
The board also asked the clerk’s office that instructions reminding voters that ballots must be placed in their envelope and then in the ballot box be printed on the ballot box in very large type. Anguiano said she would consider the deadline extension request, but cannot place a staff member at the ballot drop off box (located outside the John C. Fremont library) because of the pandemic.
Board member Jeffrey Carpenter asked for guidance on what to tell residents who are renters and are frustrated that they have to show submit lengthy property leases as documentation that they are eligible for a renters’ ballot. In response, the officials said any of the following documentation would be accepted: a residential lease or rental agreement, a rent receipt, renter’s insurance documentation, a letter from landlord confirming renter/tenant status; or other similar documentation proving your status as a resident, including a renters’ association bill or letter, or a letter from a local Neighborhood Watch attesting to your status as a renter or tenant, or even a receipt for a renters’ insurance policy.
After nearly two hours, the meeting adjourned with a final suggestion from City Clerk staff member Renee McDade, who urged board members to try to get the word out to residents on how to participate in the election.
“Please make sure your stakeholders know they are eligible for two sets of ballots — one for the area and one for the special interest seats. They should know they have to provide documentation as proof of their stakeholder status,” said McDade, adding “voters can look at the qualifications on the ballot and we have information on our website that gives examples of different documentation that go along with the various seats. Voters should also should also provide their email address and phone number so we can contact them if there are any issues.”
The deadline to request a ballot is March 9. Ballots can be requested online at https://clerk.lacity.org/elections/neighborhood-council-election or by mail using a pdf form which can be found at https://clerk.lacity.org/sites/g/files/wph606/f/2021_VBM_Application_ENG.pdf
Ballot must be postmarked by March 16 or may be dropped off at ballot box by 8 p.m. on March 16. The ballot box will be located at the John C. Fremont Library at 6121 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038. The box will be in place starting Friday, March 12, 2021.
Finally, the GWNC is hosting two candidate forums where residents can learn more about the candidates running for the board. The forums are scheduled for March 6 at 3 p.m. Â and March 7 at 1 p.m. Click here for more information or the image below.
For more information visit the GWNC website election page at https://greaterwilshire.org/2021-elections/
