Anxious L.A. voters poured out on this historic election day, even if they couldn't sway the main event

People mark their ballots in voting booths.

Nov. 5, 2024 2:43 PM PT

“Nervous.” “Emotional.” “Worried.” “Insecure.”

Los Angeles-area voters were feeling much like the rest of the country as election day dawned.

But with the support of the state’s liberal majority for California-bred candidate Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race all but assured, voters were hoping to affect the downballot measures and races that could have an everyday impact on their lives. Ballot items dealing with housing costs (Proposition 33), retail theft and drug addiction (Proposition 36), schools (Proposition 2) and dozens of local races were driving them to the polls.

“That’s a hell no for me,” said Koryn Frye-Fuentes, 30, widening her eyes for emphasis as she panned Proposition 36 outside her polling place at Plummer Park in West Hollywood. Incarceration “doesn’t help people with drug addiction.” The proposition, backed by law enforcement, seeks to impose harsher sentences for retail theft and drug possession. And it hits a nerve in Los Angeles, where certain supermarket aisles are now locked up, shoplifting has increased and people openly use drugs.

The measure would roll back Proposition 47, approved a decade earlier to reduce prison overcrowding and direct funds toward rehabilitation.

But it wasn’t only local matters that drove people to the polls. Even if Californians had little chance to sway the presidential race, they wanted to take their stance on what they saw as a historical election, with many voting for the first time.

“I never follow politics. I don’t follow the council people,” said Ernie Quintana, a 44-year-old Puerto Rican in El Sereno. “This is my first time ever.”

He came because he wanted to make sure Trump wins.

“I feel like, let’s make America great again,” said Quintana, who was recently laid off. He said he wasn’t offended by stand-up comic Tony Hinchcliffe calling Puerto Rico garbage before a packed Donald Trump rally in New York last month. “He’s a comedian,” he scoffed. “I didn’t take that personally,”
Besides, he added, there’s a lot of corruption in Puerto Rico.

As for the rest of the 10 state ballot measures, the U.S. senate race and other local issues, the only item he felt strongly about is Proposition 36.

“You get a lot of people repeating stealing, and they don’t get in trouble,” he said. “A lot of these stores are closing down. Walmart, Target. You go to those places and everything [is] under key.”

While a couple of outlying polling places logged waits of up to an hour, most had waits under 15 minutes, and election officials had not reported any machine malfunctions. And most voters had already cast their ballot by then.

“Since 2020, approximately 80% of people who’ve voted in an election have used the vote-by-mail ballot,” said Michael Sanchez, a spokesperson for the Registrar-Recorder/Clerk. “ I expect that to uphold. I think when the dust settles, you are going to see that trend continue.”

Election officials expect more than 3 million votes to be cast in Los Angeles County. As of midday Tuesday, more than 1.7 million vote-by-mail ballots were being processed. Another 612,000 people had voted at more than 600 centers throughout the region. The majority of those votes were expected to be reflected in results posted by the Registrar-Recorder/Clerk on Tuesday night. But there remains an unknown number of mail-in ballots still coming in.

Girding for a worst-case scenario, law enforcement officials were on heightened alert throughout the county, though no specific threats had been made as of midday.

At the Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center in the Fairfax district the mood was celebratory, and Andrea Ruth, 53, was enjoying the “festive” voting experience.

“Every time someone finished voting, everyone applauded,” she exclaimed.

Ruth, who has a school-age child in the Los Angeles Unified School District, said she was supporting funds for more schooling. Proposition 2 is a bond measure that would allow California to borrow $10 billion to help fund repairs and upgrades at thousands of public schools and community colleges. “I am glad there is so much money on the table for LAUSD.”

Katelyn, a 37-year-old West Hollywood voter who declined to give her last name, said she was moved by Proposition 33, which gives local jurisdictions wider latitude to regulate rents.

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“I am in West Hollywood, which already had rent control and that really helped during the pandemic,” she said while dropping off her mail-in ballot. “It has allowed me to stay in this neighborhood that I love.”

During the lockdowns, she said, neighbors helped one another and the building cultivated a sense of community — in part because people could afford to stay in the same apartments for so long.

“I feel like if that could spread in L.A., that would be helpful,” she said.

Across town, Maria Cordes, 59, and her friend Teresa Ayala, 83, came to the El Sereno voting center, motivated for different reasons by the presidential election and common ones in some of the state and local races.

Cordes, a Mexican immigrant who lost her job as a nursing assistant because of an injury, voted for Trump because she felt he promised a better economic outlook. Ayala, a Salvadoran immigrant, said she felt that way about Harris.

Both were offended by the shoplifters they had seen walk out of stores as families struggled to pay for their meals and voted for Proposition 36.

“I want them punished,” said Ayala. “There are people out there who can’t afford to eat, and then people steal things?”

Both also backed their incumbent council member, Kevin de León, who was embroiled in controversy for his part in a 2022 scandal involving a leaked audio recording with colleagues that contained incendiary remarks. His challenger, tenant rights attorney Ysabel Jurado, was recently recorded by a De León aide saying, “F— the police.”

“The other woman offended the police,” Ayala said. “And he has done so much for the community.”

But Alex Zayas, a 27-year-old nursing assistant who lives in a rent-stabilized apartment, doesn’t see it that way. While De León helped clear streets that were lined with people living in RVs, Zayas said, problems remain. He pointed to a nearby street corner, about two blocks from De León’s office, where he said people openly use drugs.

“It’s like we are back to square one.”