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IS CALIFORNIA TRYING TO DISENFRANCHISE REPUBLICAN VOTERS?

(Los Angeles) - On the day of one of the most hotly-contested primaries in history, Republicans are being told to stand in line in order to exercise their right to vote. This is because many precincts have more voting booths set up for Democrats than for Republicans. Sometimes up to four times as many!

"This is outrageous," said one voter outside the precinct. "There were four completely empty Democratic booths and I had to stand in line for over 15 minutes for the single Republican booth. If I'd had to wait any longer, I would have had to leave without voting, or I'd have been late for work."

While many precincts have two-to-one Democratic registration, the turn-out was expected to very heavy for Republicans, who are voting in one of the most closely-watched campaigns in the country. Conservative Republican Bill Simon is running against moderate Republican Richard Riordan, the former mayor of Los Angeles. While Riordan's nomination was expected to be a lock, recent polls have shown Simon gaining a slight lead.

Some political analysts have said that if California nominates the conservative, pro-life Simon, it could be a harbinger for the fall elections, where Democrats are already having trouble finding a central issue. Recent polls have shown the number of voters defining themselves as "Republican" rising over those defining themselves as "Democrat."

In California today, the Democratic turnout was expected to very low since current Governor Gray Davis will be the party's nominee in November and there are no big ballot initiatives that have captured the attention of the voters.

Still, many precincts are set up to take care of more Democrats than are actually showing up, while Republicans must stand in line to exercise our country's most sacred right...the act of voting.