All Quiet on the District 4 Voting Front

The polling place in a recreation center room in the North Hollywood Park is denoted by an American flag, hanging sideways from a pole, and a series of white sheets of paper with large arrows all pointing to an open door. It appears that they needed better advertising.

It’s 3:30 p.m. and only fifteen voters have showed up to this location. There are 450 registered. The three poll workers seem restless; two of them were standing outside the door when I walked inside. But the air outside is still, and the grounds are desolate. There won’t be voters coming in until after 5 p.m., when the workers expect a rush of about twenty-five people.

“There’s phone numbers there, if you want to help make some calls,” says 63-year-old Bill Schmidt.

(See the attached video of quiet District 4 polling stations over in Hollywood.)

His sense of humor and lively spirit have helped him survive many elections. During the 2008 presidential election, he worked at a polling place in Venice Beach, which was “wonderful,” he says. Voters cast their ballots right on the beach. 

Last November, he also worked the polls, and was surprised to see lines out the door to vote. The motivation? A ballot measure to make marijuana legal.

“They looked like they came out of the mountains. Most of them had hair just as long as you,” he says.

But this year, there is no passion toward any of the ballot measures or district races, he says. (“It’s more of a fast walk,” he says of the District 4 race.)

Schmidt did the math for Measure M, which would tax medical marijuana, and figured out that it would save the city millions of dollars.

“I don’t mind paying an extra $1.50,” he says.

He says that the election wasn’t given enough media coverage, but notes that primary elections typically never have high turnout.

“Bless the fifteen people that turned out. They showed interest in the community,” he says. 

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