Good News: All Los Angeles “Double Bubble” Votes from Independents in Democratic Presidential Primary to be Counted

Jacobs, who had just finished testifying on this issue to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, was ecstatic, and said: "The Courage Campaign applauds Acting Registrar Dean Logan's solution to the 'double bubble' issue in Los Angeles County.”

He had a lot more to say: “Clearly, the winners in today's announcement are, first and foremost, the voters of Los Angeles County who can maintain their confidence in the electoral process and in knowing that their vote will be counted.

“Also, through the concerted efforts of the Courage Campaign, concerned citizens and organizations, strong Board leadership, and a Registrar willing to listen and do what it takes to ensure that every vote counts, Los Angeles County has, today, avoided the serious and demoralizing problems confronted by election jurisdictions elsewhere throughout the country.

“Mr. Logan has arrived at the solution the Courage Campaign has advocated since the day after the election. The Courage Campaign has consistently demanded that all votes be tallied so that we know how many DTS voters tried to vote for president and then that every ballot be counted where voter intent can be ascertained. Mr. Logan is using the method suggested by the Courage Campaign and many of our friends in the election protection community. We will monitor the counting to assure that it is carried out in a timely manner.

“In addition to 32,776 Courage Campaign members who signed a petition to Mr. Logan, we thank County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky for his leadership on this issue as well as the ever vigilant Secretary of State Debra Bowen.

“This is a complete victory for people-powered politics and a sign that the people of this state will only accept transparency in the election process.

“We look forward to working with the County, the Secretary of State and our friends in the election protection community to assure that this never happens again. Mr. Logan has promised to change the ballot design and the Courage Campaign will follow through and ensure that it is completed in time for the June primary election."

Former State Senator Art Torres, Chair of the California Democratic Party, had also asked that a way to be found to count all of these votes, saying on February 12, "The California Democratic Party is committed to ensuring that all voters who voted in the Democratic presidential primary have their votes counted. The CDP proactively requested that the Secretary of State allow decline-to-state voters to participate in the Democratic primary. We were hopeful Los Angeles County could find a way to count those votes and still hope they will. The notion that every vote counts, and that every vote should be counted, goes to the very core of our democracy. We strongly urge L.A. County to remedy this problem before the June primary election."

Only a month or so before the election, Mr. Logan took over the position as the acting head of the combined voter registrar and clerk’s office in Los Angeles, the largest county in California and home to about one-quarter of the state’s voters.

Voter turnout is noticeably lower in Los Angeles County, especially when compared with the San Francisco Bay Area where many more voters vote by mail and participation is high. Some analysts believe this to be due to the lack of promotion by the LA Registrar’s office of vote by mail balloting.

Hooray for the Democratic Party with a record turnout and votes still being counted. And hooray for the democratic process (with a small "d") and all of those who insisted the votes be counted.