No on 8 Volunteers Battle Across California in Final Crucial Hours

By Ross von Metzke, Advocate.com | Article Date: 11/04/2008 1:20 PM
Polls in California have been open for more than six hours, and in areas of the state with dense LGBT populations, voters are reportedly waiting three hours in line, and their wait is getting longer.

In Los Angeles, No on 8 is handing out flyers to potential voters urging them to vote No on 8 because it’s “unfair” and “wrong” -- and because Barack Obama, Dianne Feinstein and Arnold Schwarzenegger all oppose the proposition.

Nowhere on the flyer does it say anything about the gay community. It simply tells voters that it is “wrong to eliminate fundamental rights.”

Volunteers for No on 8 are blanketing the city to get the word out. In more traditionally conservative areas including San Diego and the Central Valley, some are the only volunteers in their area on hand to persuade people to vote against the proposition.

In Los Angeles, LA Gay and Lesbian Center CEO Lorri Jean received word that a school principal was chasing No on 8 volunteers away from poling places and ripping up No on 8 signs. LAPD was called and sent a reminder to poling places that No on 8 is allowed to have volunteers hand out literature so long as they stayed more than 100 feet away from the polls.

In Pico Rivera, no official Yes on 8 people seem to be campaigning near the polls… but a few people are lingering near poling places “damning” gay souls and yelling religious rhetoric at voters. According to reports from the scene, about 20-percent of voters are uninformed on Prop. 8.