Long Beach Election: Workers temporarily locked out of polling place

Poll workers set up a makeshift voting booth on a sidewalk this moing while they were temporarily locked out of the official location, the city clerk said.

Poll workers were supposed to establish a voting location on the enclosed patio at The Pizza Place on Broadway before the polls opened at 7 a.m.; however, when they arrived, the gate was locked, said City Clerk Maria de la Luz Garcia.

Poll workers contacted the city clerk’s office, who contacted the business owner, Garcia said.

But before the owner arrived, a voter showed up to cast his ballot, Garcia said.

“The poll workers did what they are trained to do. They let him vote,” she said. The poll workers took out the roster, had him sign it and handed him a ballot to complete on the sidewalk.

“We don’t tu people away because they are not ready,” Garcia said.

When the owner arrived shortly after 7 a.m., the voter already had left, and the gate was unlocked for polling to begin on the patio, Garcia said.

The voter said in an email that he had no sense of privacy while voting.

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