District 6 Residents Get Look at New Voting Machines

District 6 residents got a chance to check out new voting machines shortly before the San Rafael Neighborhood Association held its first candidate forum.

Jeff Klein of the L.A. County Registrar of Voters Office. Klein made a 45-minute presentation and demonstrated the new electronic voting machine that in person voters will be using in just over a month from now.

Los Angeles County has spent $100 million to build its own election system. LA County has more registered voters than 42 states.

The system, which includes high-tech “ballot marking devices,” could create a transparent and fully accessible way to vote anywhere in the state, instead of assigned polling places.

Live voting begins on Feb. 22.

The voting information session began just before District 6 Candidates Ryan Bell, Tamerlin Godley and Incumbent Steve Madison participated in a 90-minute candidate forum. Mayoral candidates were allowed to make candidate statements after the forum.

Mayor Terry Tornek, who is running for a second term, was unable to attend because the event was held while Tornek was holding the annual State of the Speech presentation.

“With the many campaign evenings coming up in this very short primary season, we wanted to get an early start on educating our neighbors about the candidates as well as the voting process,” said Mark Mastromatteo, SRNA’s newly- elected board chair and president.

“We also believe that getting this D6 event in now gives those candidates an opportunity to focus in on the voters in a more intimate setting, while both those running and those voting are at their freshest.”