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Los Angeles Election 2012: The Tale of Two Sides

Michelle Nadjar, Max Meyer |
November 6, 2012 | 5:59 p.m. PST

Staff Writers

The voting scene at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
The voting scene at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Both sides of Los Angeles were eager to make their voices heard on Election Day 2012. Despite class differences, citizens had the same viewpoints on the importance of participating in elections. 

The Beverly Hills Hotel was one of the primary polling locations on the West Side of Los Angeles, in one of the most poltically active zip codes of Los Angeles in terms of campaign donations. The pretentious atmosphere caused hostility among some of the voters when attempting to ask their opinions about voting. A couple voters refused to answer any questions. One voter who came to this country for the right to vote was willing to share her opinions. Jennifer Park, a retired accountant who immigrated from China 30 years ago, feels that the right to vote is extremely important.

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"Well [my vote] cannot make any changes," Park said. "But still, every individual can gather together to make an impact."

Park has voted in every election since 1992 with her husband. She also believes that technology has attributed to making the voting process more efficient. "Right now [voting in this election] is much easier and more accurate," Park said. "Twenty years ago, we used a ballpoint pen and some of the votes were not valid. Now it's much faster."

However, in South Los Angeles, preschool teacher Brianna Williams thought that technology also had a negative impact on this year's election.

"People were putting their ballots on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. So those votes were disqualified obviously," Williams stated. "It was a big issue this morning for two hours. People are too attached to technology."

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Williams, who was standing next to a curbside voting location, believes that voting is extremely important, and she blames laziness for the reason why several people in Los Angeles do not vote.

"[My friends] were trying to convince me not to vote. They said it's a waste of time and it doesn't matter," Williams exclaimed. "Well, your time doesn't matter because you didn't vote."

Williams was a first-time voter four years ago, and she plans to vote in every forth coming election. "At one point not everyone had the right to [vote]," Williams said. "If you can go vote, why not?" 

 

Reach Associate Sports Editor Max Meyer here. Follow him here.



 

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