All around Los
Angeles, teams of volunteers dispatched by the Gay and
Lesbian Center are responding to claims of friction at the
polls.
One particular
response team was dispatched to Pasadena. Mark
Hefflinger, an operative for the No on 8 campaign, was part
of a group sent to a polling place in Altadena
due to reports that a disgruntled Yes on 8
voter had upset one of the No on 8 volunteers.
According to Hefflinger, the Yes on 8 voter went into the
polling place and complained toan unnamed
female worker. One of the two called the police.
Police arrived,
but found only a husband-and-wife volunteer team
against Proposition 8. Whoever placed the call was no longer
at the polling place.
In a second
incident there, according to Hefflinger, before police
arrived at the scene, a polling station worker decided
unilaterally where the campaign boundaries should be,
telling No on 8 volunteers they had to
move farther away from their position and
that they could not distribute any materials. By
law, no one can campaign within 100 feet of a
polling place.
When Hefflinger
arrived, he said he found that No on 8 workers were
not handing out the palm cards being distributed throughout
California today -- one of the volunteers said
they were not allowed to. They called No on
8 headquarters, who told them to go ahead and hand out
cards again, while still respecting the "new"
campaigning boundary line.
That didn't seem
to please the poll worker, who came out moments later
and again said they were not allowed to distribute
literature. Hefflinger further asserted their
right to do so. The poll worker continued to
protest until she eventually threw her hands and
walked back into the polling place. Interestingly, according
to Hefflinger, that polling location reported
that 85% of voters were saying they were voting no and
glad to see the No on 8 team.
It's one of many
reports from the field of poll workers and No on 8
volunteers butting heads.
Lorri Jean, CEO
of the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center, told The Advocate
some churches where polling places have been set up
are refusing to allow No on 8 volunteers within 100 feet
of the polling place, saying that the voting is on church
property. No on 8's attorney has the Secretary
of State's office checking into this, according
to Jean, but the law seems to be unclear whether it
specifically forbids churches to discriminate in this way
when their facilities are used for voting.
Thalia Zepatos,
director of community engagement for the No on 8
campaign, said many places throughout L.A. County have
reported harassment and illegal electioneering by
churches. At the Valley Park Baptist Church in the
west San Fernando Valley suburb of North Hills, police
were called and asked to escort No on 8 volunteers away --
which they did.
At Los Angeles
Christian Presbyterian Church in south Pasadena, a poll
worker had been telling voters to vote Yes on 8.
Zepatos also said
that at another church, a poll worker advised to vote
Yes on 8 and began quoting the Bible, though she didn't know
what church it was. The Advocate has not
confirmed the church's location.
"We call
in to the L.A. city elections office and report
them," says Zepatos. "We say [such poll
workers] should be removed."
As to whether
they are removed, Zepatos says, "Probably not.
They're shorthanded." (Corey Scholibo
and Anne Stockwell, The Advocate)
