Sample ballots slow to arrive in L.A. County

Official says sending high volume of mailers has proven problematic

If you have not yet received your sample ballot for the Nov. 8 election in the mail, you are not alone.

In fact, you are one of about 400,000 L.A. County registered voters, out of some 5.1 million, still waiting, according to the County Registrar-Recorder/ Clerk.

The deadline to get the sample ballots into the mail was, officially, Oct. 18 -- but Mike Sanchez, a spokesperson for County Registrar-Recorder/Clerk Dean Logan, said Friday that the scale of the job has proved problematic.

“We are asking people to be patient given the high volume of ballots that have to be mailed out,’’ Sanchez told The Signal.

Another spokesperson for Logan’s office, Brenda Duran, said, “We’re still in the process (of mailing),

they’re still en route, so people shouldn’t panic, they’re still going out.’’

Duran said all the sample ballots should be mailed out in the coming few days, though she did not give a more specific time frame.

She said the 4.7 million figure for sample ballots mailed out so far was as of 9 a.m. Friday.

Logan’s office is supervising the printing and mailing process. According to Sanchez, the county contracts out the printing and distribution to the Merrill Corporation, which does the actual mailing.

Merrill gives daily progress reports to the Clerk/Registrar. The printing and mailing come out of Merrill’s La Mirada offices.

Sanchez said voters can also see sample ballots on LAVote.net.

To be eligible to vote in the upcoming election, residents must register by Monday Oct. 24.