INSIDE INGLEWOOD-During the June 3 primary, a number of Inglewood and Hawthorne polling place inspectors claimed that they were told by their LA County Precinct Coordinator that poll watchers were not allowed to inspect the Roster of Voters on the tables inside the polling places.
In a publication for the June 3 Primary titled What to do if...Election Day Problems Occur at the Polls, the LA County Registrar Recorder/County Clerk stated, “Poll Watchers may look at the Roster of Voters as long as the voting process is not delayed.”
In Inglewood and the northern region of Hawthorne, however, several Inspectors declared otherwise.
Gertrude Beck, a veteran Inspector who oversaw the Chester Washington Golf Course at Precinct 197670006A, refused to allow poll watchers to inspect the Roster of Voters, refused to speak with LA County RR/CC officials and commanded those under her charge to prevent poll watchers from carrying out their duties. She also declared that she had been explicitly told that very morning that poll watchers were not allowed to inspect the Roster.
Emma Lutheran, who claims to have been an Inspector for 10 years and was on June 3 an Inspector at Woodworth Elementary (Precinct 192950095A), made similar claims regarding her Precinct Coordinator’s instruction.
“You cannot look at this book,” she said, even after being told that the law allows such inspections.
When asked if she had been given an instruction sheet regarding what poll watchers are allowed, she said, “I packed it away and can’t find it.”
Inspectors are supposed to be given a sheet regarding what poll watchers are allowed. None of the Inspectors were able to produce the sheet.
Efrain Escobedo, Executive Liaison Officer to the LA County Clerk’s Community Voter Outreach Committee, did not return calls and e-mails requesting comment.
(Randall Fleming is a veteran journalist and magazine publisher. He has worked at and for the New York Post, the Brooklyn Spectator and the Los Feliz Ledger. He is currently editor-in-chief at the Morningside Park Chronicle, a weekly newspaper based in Inglewood, CA and on-line at www.MorningsideParkChronicle.com. Mr Fleming’s views are his own and do not reflect the views of CityWatch.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 12 Issue 51
Pub: June 24, 2014
