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Peter Su walked through the lobby doors of Staples Center, with more than a stirring sense of nostalgia. The NBA fan was last at the arena in Feburary for a Lakers-Clippers game before the pandemic forced the league into the "bubble."
But Su, a personal trainer, was back again Saturday morning for a reason he couldn't have imagined months ago: to vote early and in-person.
"I thought it the easiest and safest to actually just do that," Su said, citing recent incidents involving ballot drop boxes.
The Staples Center was one of more than 100 vote centers in Los Angeles County to open from now until Election Day. Voters can cast ballots at an additional 650 centers starting on Friday.
Su had planned to mail in or drop off his ballot but recent incidents dissuaded him. A ballot drop box in Baldwin Park had been set on fire, and he was also disturbed by the drop boxes that had been labeled as official by local Republicans when they were not.
Others who showed up at Staples Center to vote said they felt more confident watching their ballot accepted by election workers than wondering how it was being processed.
All registered voted in California received mail-in ballots this year due to concerns about the pandemic. In all the state mailed more than 22 million ballots. As of Friday, the Secretary of State's office reported more than 6.5 million had been returned.
The dozens who were waiting to get into Staples Center got an early taste of pandemic-style voting.
A mask check. An offer of hand sanitizer. An election worker waiting to wipe down each of the 40 voting machines after its use.
Sara Garcia, a lawyer who lives downtown, usually mails in her ballot but came to vote at Staples Center because she didn't want to risk sending it in with any errors. She felt this election was too important.
She mentioned one common mistake voters make: a mismatch between the signature on the ballot and the signature from when you registered to vote.
Making sure her ballot was accepted was one last thing for her to be anxious about during this election.
"I think it feels comforting to come in person, get a little print-out and have it all done," Garcia said.
Garcia said it was also a thrill to visit Staples to vote as a Lakers fan who "bleeds purple and gold."
Staples is one of a dozen or so arenas around the country to be turned into voting centers amid Black Lives Matter protests. NBA players pressured owners to act for racial justice, and owners agreed to open up arenas they owned for voting.
The Lakers do not own Staples but worked something out with owner AEG and the county. The collaboration was visible Saturday as Staples security worked with county workers to usher voters through.
The Lakers don't own Staples but worked something out with owner AEG. Staples security is working alongside county election workers.
Seeing team logos for Lakers, Kings and Sparks on "I voted" stickers and on a step and repeat banner.
Nothing with the Clips! pic.twitter.com/upyqeRv72T
— Josie Huang (@josie_huang) October 24, 2020
After voting, people got their choice of "I Voted" stickers with either Lakers or L.A. Kings branding. A step and repeat banner bore the logos of the Lakers, Kings and Sparks.
There was an absence of Clippers branding at the Staples. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is opening up the Forum to early voting starting Friday.
The presidential election was the main driver to the polls for voters. But one local race getting special attention is for Los Angeles County District Attorney. Garcia and Su are voting for George Gascón over incumbent Jackie Lacey, while Steven Ambers of West L.A. said he went with Lacey after consulting a relative who works in her office.
It was Ambers' first time going to a vote center and using one of the ballot marking devices rolled out by the county in time for the March primaries. There were technical glitches then and now — as Ambers found out.
After Ambers made his picks on the screen, the machine printed out a completed ballot for his review. But when he tried to reinsert the ballot, the machine wouldn't accept it.
Ambers said election workers ended up putting his ballot into a drop box.
"I voted like I would had I voted by mail," Ambers said.
As long as his ballot gets counted, Ambers said he didn't mind how it came about.
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