Vote centers open for Los Angeles City Council runoff election

Three vote centers are now open for the June 27 Los Angeles City Council runoff election between two candidates hoping to replace former Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nury Martinez.

Vote center locations can be found online at locator.lavote.gov and are also listed inside the Sample Ballot Book sent out to voters. The centers are open daily from 10 a.m to 7 p.m. for accessible in-person voting, or voters can return a completed vote-by-mail ballot.

Imelda Padilla, a community advocate, and Marisa Alcaraz, a top advisor to City Councilman Curren Price, received the most votes in the April primary for the District 6 seat.

The district encompasses all or part of the neighborhoods of Lake Balboa, Van Nuys, Panorama City, Arleta, North Hills, North Hollywood and Sun Valley. The areas have been without representation since Martinez, who was council president at the time, resigned after the leak of an audio tape that captured her making racist remarks.

Her resignation prompted a special election for the San Fernando Valley seat where Padilla and Alcaraz bested five other opponents after Padilla received 25.7% of the vote, while Alcaraz secured 21.1%. Their failure to capture 50% of the vote, though, forced the two into a June 27 runoff.

Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean C. Logan said the most convenient ways to participate in the election were either to return the vote-by-mail ballot in the mail — no postage required — or to vote in-person at an official ballot drop box or vote center.

With just two weeks left before the election, some district voters have already cast ballots in the majority-Latino district.

As of Friday, 6,947 mail-in ballots had been returned in the election, according to the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder’s office.