Los Angeles – Where was the fastest place to vote in California this morning? 90210, it seems. Election day in that zip code started off with rain and a rarity: A polling station at the Beverly Hills Hotel was empty moments before opening up to voters at 7:00 a.m. However, at other sites in southern California, voters stepped onto lines that trailed along for city blocks.
This election, Angelenos aren’t just deciding between the first Black president and the first female vice-president in American history. They’re also voting on Proposition 8, a controversial amendment to California’s constitution that would define marriage as only being between a man and a woman.
Expected to pack some lines today to vote for president, Proposition 8 and more, will be the 17.3 million registered voters California holds—nearly 75 percent of the state’s residents who are eligible to vote have signed up. That puts voter registration numbers at the highest in the state’s history. And with Los Angeles being the largest election district in the country, it’s clear the city will play a tremendous role in the outcome of today’s race, setting the tone for the state of California.
Democrats have a slight edge in the Golden State. They account for 44.4 percent of California’s voters—up from 43 percent four years ago. Republicans, however, are on the decline. The state has lost more than 300,000 registered Republican voters in the past four years.