UPDATE: It is still contested whether or not these votes (such as mine, and two of my three colleagues who also voted Democratic on a Nonpartisan ballot) will be disqualified. Obama campaign lawyer Stephen Kaufman defines two issues decline-to-state voters are experiencing today, one statewide and one only in LA County. CA campaign chair Buffy Wicks just sent out an URGENT UPDATE, the Clinton campaign has still said nothing beyond: “False reports about voting problems in LA are being drudged up – Everything is going smoothly in LA.”

Despite all the preparation I did before going down the street to Elysian Park Elementary to vote this morning I missed something HUGE. Perhaps I should have read my literature closer, or at least this blog post:

Thousands of non-partisan voters’ ballots in Democratic Primary could go uncounted if voters fail to follow instructions carefully.

As a registered decline-to-state voter, I was aware that I could choose either a Democratic or American Independent ballot. I had no idea, however, that I would be handed a punch card that said only “non-partisan.” Furthermore, at the top of the card there apparently was an additional and crucial bubble on it, signifying whether the non-partisan was voting for the American Independent candidate or one of the Democratic candidates. City officials are getting the word out to citizens now, but it’s a little to late. This extra bubble is ONLY for DTS voters in Los Angeles County.

This is only one of my concerns. Despite SoS Debra Bowen doing the right thing and recalling all electronic voting machines until they’re proven reliable, the Inkavote machine used to verify and count my ballot was apparently broken! As I went to slip my punch card in, the poll worker told me, “it’s broken, just give it to me and I’ll put it in the box myself later.” What?!? You’ve got 6 months to fix this, Bowen.

OK. That’s my Super Tuesday story for now. I hope you can all make it down to Seven Grand later to watch the returns and celebrate my birthday! Let’s party.

LAist is throwing a post-primary Super Tuesday bash at my fave bar, Seven Grand from 7-9, and I’ll remain planted there for the remainder of the night until I get my late-night birthday present, which (I hope) will be Sen. Barack Obama claiming a majority of the nearly 1700 delegates up for grabs (he was just endorsed by the LA Times).

We won’t necessarily be talking politics — it’s not really worth talking about. Super Tuesday is our chance to celebrate one of the rare opportunities we have to make a difference by practicing democracy. And the first 75 peeps to show up wearing an “I voted” sticker gets a drink on LAist and AnswerWithAction.

And there are much more exciting and interesting things to talk about anyway. Many of you may have already RSVP’d on the facebook or upcoming event page, but if you were on the fence or will be busy much of the night, perhaps knowing that there will be some birthday celebrating going on into the night (I’ll turn 33 on February 6th) will change your mind! Hope to see you Tuesday. Happy voting.

[Seven Grand Google Map]