Folks, it's Super Tuesday and Californians are going to the polls, along with 22 other states. But if you're a registered independents in California, take note: Your vote might not be counted if you don't fill out one single bubble.

SJ Mercury News:



In addition to vote-tallying issues, some concerns had arisen about the voting process.

Voter-outreach groups criticized the ballot in Los Angeles County, saying it could disenfranchise independent voters.

The Democratic and American Independent party ballots given to independent voters who request them include an extra bubble specifying that the ballot is for that party's primary. The bubble appears before the list of presidential candidates.

If voters fail to mark that spot, the county's scanning machines will not read the selection for president.

Lawyers for the Los Angeles-based Courage Campaign said that violates California election law. The group sent a letter to Los Angeles County officials threatening legal action if the issue isn't addressed before Tuesday's election.

"We did talk to the county, and they admit it's a problem," Courage Campaign chairman Rick Jacobs said. "They just don't seem to know what to do about it."

Other groups, including the California League of Women Voters, said they had fielded numerous calls from independent voters asking how they could get a party ballot.

"These voters are getting ballots that are blank, because they're not in a party, and it did not seem clear to most of the decline-to-state voters that they could request a party ballot," said spokeswoman Elizabeth Leslie.

Independents account for nearly 20 percent of California's registered voters. The GOP does not allow them to vote in the Republican primary, but Democrats and some other parties do.

