The Walter Pyramid will be a designated voting center for the California primaries on March 3.
The decision comes after the approval of the California Voters Choice Act, a law that was meant to simplify the voting experience by expanding the areas where people can vote. For a select number of counties, including Los Angeles and Orange, voters no longer need to cast their ballots in a designated precinct.
Long Beach State President Jane Close Conoley said she’s excited to have the Pyramid be a polling place.
“CSULB is proud to serve as a voting center to increase participation and access for students, faculty, staff and members of our surrounding community neighbors,” Conoley said.
Chris Reese, associate vice president of university relations, said the polling location will provide a great opportunity for students and the community to cast their ballots.
“[Although] the vote center is available for anyone in LA County, the campus was enthusiastic that voting will be so accessible to our students, faculty, and staff,” Reese said. ”We encourage those students who are registered to vote in LA County to take advantage of the vote center.”
Long Beach State’s ability to hold a polling station is a result of a large push by the LA County Registrar of Voters to get every California State University campus to host a voter center.
Edgar Kaskla, political science professor, said the availability of the voting center on campus is important for young voters.
“The big emphasis has been on trying to hit young people, people of color and women in particular because they tend to vote more liberal,” Kaskla said. “This would make it easier for people who don’t have time to go back home from campus in the evening.”
The California Voters Choice Act is set to be used by 15 counties in 2020, including Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Sacramento, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Tuolumne.
The Pyramid vote center will be available from Feb. 29 to Mar. 3. The Pointe, an office in the Pyramid, will be open for voting from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the first three days, and be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m on election day.