The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region recently announced that it will be partnering with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk and other Elections officials to organize a series of Community Meetings in Glendale, Pasadena, and the Crescenta Valley to give residents the opportunity to discuss potential Vote Center locations to be placed within their neighborhoods in 2020. The new vote centers are part of the new voting model set to be launched for the March 2020 Statewide Primary Election.
The new voting model will utilize vote centers in compliance with the California Voter’s Choice Act passed in 2016. Vote Centers will offer an 11-day voting period in convenient and accessible locations within the County and allow all voters to visit any site in the County to vote regardless of their residential address. The Vote Center Placement Project’s core mission is to identify and place accessible and convenient vote center locations throughout LA County.
In August, the ANCA-WR as well as its two local chapters ANCA-Crescenta Valley and ANCA Pasadena applied and were selected to become partners with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk (RR/CC) to facilitate and host the Grassroots Community Meetings for the Vote Center Placement Project (VCPP).
The Community Meeting in Glendale will be organized with the support and cooperation of the Glendale City Clerk’s Office Elections’ Division. City Clerk Ardashes “Ardy” Kassakhian serves on the VSAP advisory board and has been a leading advocate for improved accessibility, modernization of elections processes and heightened election security.
“We are excited to work with community based organizations like the ANCA-WR and local chapters who have a track record of voter education and outreach and I highly value their involvement.” Kassakhian said. “I’m glad that the ANC jumped at the opportunity to host these public meetings and look forward to the public’s participation.”
The details of the Community Meetings are as follows:
Thursday, December 13, 2018
7:00pm-9:00pm
H&H Jivalagian Youth Center
2242 East Foothill Boulevard
Pasadena, CA 91107
Friday, December 14, 2018
6pm-8pm
Glendale Youth Center
211 West Chestnut Street
Glendale, CA 91204
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
7:00pm-9:00pm
La Crescenta County Library
2809 Foothill Boulevard
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Every community meeting will provide an overview to the Voting Solutions for All People voting experience, and will allow community members to ask questions and about Vote Centers locations as well as provide input. ANCA-WR and LA County Registrar-Record/County Clerk Office staff members will be present to facilitate the Community Meeting and ensure an informative session for all members of the community.
According to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk (RR/CC) Dean C. Logan, 33 community meetings will take place across Los Angeles County. The first one was held on November 16, from 6:30PM-8:30PM at the Salvation Army in Compton. This service is being provided to facilitate information in Armenian in an effort to better serve our community and encourage civic engagement through the ANCA-WR HyeVotes initiative to make our collective voice heard in the electoral process.
Language assistance in Armenian will be provided in all of the meetings mentioned and in Spanish for the meeting in Glendale.
View the full list of community meetings with locations, hours and study areas right here.