Voters from North Hollywood, Burbank, Pasadena and across Los Angeles County appeared at Vote Center Community Meetings to learn more about the updated countywide voting system set to be implemented for the 2020 Elections. These meetings were hosted by the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region and its three local chapters: Crescenta Valley, East San Fernando Valley, and Pasadena.
The ANCA is one of several community organizations asked to help in partnership with LA County’s Voting Solutions for All People, or VSAP initiative. Dozens of voters attended these community meetings that were organized at the ACF Community Center of the Eastern San Fernando Valley, the Burbank Public Library, and the Pasadena Convention Center on May 18, May 29, and June 4 respectively. All the meetings were organized with the support and cooperation of the local City Clerk’s Office Elections’ Division.
“The ANCA Pasadena Chapter was proud to collaborate with the City of Pasadena and in particular the City Clerk’s office led by City Clerk, Mark Jomsky, as well as partner up with LA County to educate and inform local residents about the important upcoming changes to the voting system. It’s essential that we work with the county in providing election services in a fair, accessible and transparent manner,” remarked ANCA-Pasadena Chapter Board Member Doing Donabedian.
These Community Meetings allowed attendees to learn about the new innovative and accessible voting experience, and the implementation of vote centers that will provide convenient locations for voting anywhere in the County over an 11-day voting period. An ANCA representative at each meeting facilitated the meeting and delivered a slideshow presentation detailing the new ballot marking system, which features a touch screen device with a port for headphones and will provide voters with a digital ballot. The presentation also included a short tutorial on how the ballot marking devices will work, as well as a short documentary, called “Democracy by Design,” about VSAP and its collaboration with IDEO, a Silicon Valley design firm helping to build the ballot marking devices.
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L.A. County will test the new voting system with a mock election on Sept. 28-29 at 50 vote centers. Demo centers will simulate the new process for voters to see and test during weekdays and weekends throughout the county between October and January. The new system will be in use by March 3, 2020, the day of the 2020 California Primary Election.
This service was 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. Additional information and resources on VSAP and its components can be found on vsap.lavote.net.
The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region is the largest and most influential nonpartisan Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues in pursuit of the Armenian Cause.
