Over 100K voters’ names left off rolls in Los Angeles County

Hundreds of thousands of voters’ names have been accidentally left off the rosters in Los Angeles County because of a printing error. 

About 2.3 percent of registered voters in the county — 118,522 — were missing on the lists for Tuesday’s primaries, according to the Los Angeles Times. But those voters are still able to cast provisional ballots, though they won’t be verified right away.

This will have an impact in more than a dozen House districts, but will likely have the most dramatic effect on the race to replace retiring GOP Rep. Ed Royce, where Democrats are most fearful of a shutout, as well as statewide races like the high-stakes gubernatorial race.

{mosads}Gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa, the former Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, told supporters at his election night party that his campaign asked the Los Angeles County registrar and secretary of state to keep polls open longer.

“Obviously this is unprecedented to have this number, we’re hoping it’s just a mix-up,” he said Tuesday night, noting that this is happening in the county that he hails from.

In the Royce district, Democrats are worried that the six Democratic candidates could split up the vote and lead to two Republicans making it onto the general election ballot thanks to the state’s “jungle” primary system. California holds a single primary where all candidates compete and the top two vote-getters advance to the general election.

The Royce seat is critical for Democrats, as their path to taking back the House runs through California. The 39th District is one of seven GOP-held seats in California that Hillary Clinton won in 2016.

If the margin remains extremely close in the 39th District into the wee hours of Wednesday morning, it’s possible it could take days or even weeks to count the provisional ballots. That primary cliffhanger would leave Democrats on edge in a district that is highly winnable in the fall.

Updated at 12:01 a.m.