Los Angeles County reported no major election-related problems as of Tuesday afternoon, despite concerns about possible federal interference in the election.
“I’m pleased to report that, so far, Election Day has been running smoothly across L.A. County,” said Dean Logan, Los Angeles County’s registrar-recorder and county clerk, during an Election Day media briefing.
Logan confirmed that observers from the Department of Justice were monitoring voting at some locations in the county.
According to Logan, federal election monitoring has been part of the election process for decades. While the county welcomed federal observers, he asked them to follow the rules and avoid interfering with voters.
“They don’t notify us of the quantity of observers that are in L.A. County,” Logan said. “We know from reports; we’ve heard from vote centers that they are out there in the field. I’ve not seen any particular pattern associated with that.”
As of 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, more than 1.9 million ballots had been cast in L.A. County, representing about 32% of registered voters, according to Logan. That included about 1.5 million returned mail-in ballots and more than 387,000 people who voted in person at vote centers.
Logan said turnout was already higher than in the 2022 midterm election, when the final turnout was 28%.
“That’s a clear indication that we’re going to see a healthier turnout than we saw 4 years ago,” Logan said.
Logan welcomed Monday’s Supreme Court decision rejecting the Trump administration’s emergency request to set aside ballots from about 20,000 California voters whose citizenship the federal government had questioned. He said the decision recognized that the county was following state and federal election laws.
“It also recognizes that Congress and the courts have repeatedly said that it’s inappropriate to disrupt the election literally days before the election or on Election Day,” Logan said.
On Tuesday morning, Andrew Walchuck, a senior policy director and counsel for voting and fair representation at Common Cause, said the Supreme Court’s decision sent a message that the federal government should stop interfering with election administration by the states. Common Cause is a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization that advocates for voting rights and government accountability.
The organization has worked with its partners to monitor voting places and help voters resolve problems across the country on Election Day.
In Pennsylvania, Common Cause and its partners responded to reports of long lines and voting equipment problems. Philip Hensley-Robin of Common Cause Pennsylvania said they sent a legal poll monitor to a polling place in Bethlehem after voters faced waits of up to 90 minutes
Back in California, voters can cast their ballots at any of the 646 vote centers in the county until 8 p.m. Tuesday, and anyone in line by 8 p.m. will still be allowed to vote.
Voters can also return their completed mail ballots to an official drop box or vote center by 8 p.m.
The county expects to release its first election results around 8:30 p.m., starting with mail ballots processed before Election Day. Results from in-person voting will be added in subsequent updates. Logan emphasized that the results released on election night will not be final.
California allows county election officials up to 30 days after Election Day to count ballots, complete audits and certify results. In the June 2 primary elections, Los Angeles County certified its final results on June 26, 24 days after the election.
Logan expects 90% to 95% of all ballots cast to be processed and included in the results by the end of the week.
Some mail ballots may arrive after Election Day, and others may require voters to correct missing or mismatched signatures. The county will conduct post-election audits before certifying the final results.