Turnout in Los Angeles County seemed headed for record territory, despite a couple nagging problems at voting polls.
By 7 p.m., Registrar of voters Dean Logan said more than 77 percent of LA's registered voters had already cast their ballots. That's about 5 percent higher than at the same time during the 2004 Presidential Election between George W. Bush and John Kerry.
Some election officials had predicted voter turnout could top the 80-percent mark by the time polls closed at 8 p.m. That would be a record turnout.
Voters surged to polls this morning despite some irritants. Electrical service was interrupted today at two polling places in the Mid-City area of Los Angeles, but voting continued, authorities said.
Problems were reported at the Tom Bradley Youth & Family Center, 5213 W. Pico Blvd.; and at the Seventh Day Adventist Church, 4394 W. Washington Place, said Brooks Baker of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Polling workers moved the operations outside in each case, and voting continued, Baker said.
DWP Crews were sent to provide generators at each location and to repair the problems.
Voting in Granada Hills got off to a rocky start today when poll workers discovered vote-recording devices missing from ballot booths, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder's office said.
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The problems arose at the Granada Hills Community Church at 10341 Woodley Ave. The missing units, in which voters place their ballots before they ink their choices, mirror the sample ballots mailed out by the Recorder, Grace Chavez of the Registrar/Clerk's office said.
Voters at a Pasadena polling location were waiting between 20 to 45 minutes to vote around 8am.
Voters were patient, and the mood outside seemed light and jovial, though it was clear not everyone in line was going to see their preferred candidate become the next President of the United States.
