Although the Election Day process is set to begin at 8 am, an hour later only 48% of the voting poles were in operation, while citizens complained about the lack voting booth volunteers to meet the demand.

One of the voting pole locations that were affected was the #1117 site, which is located in the Los Alamos neighborhood in Tijuana. Here, voters had to wait several minutes to cast their vote as officials from the Electoral Institute and Citizen Participation of Baja California (IEPCBC) trained some volunteers to help out in the voting process.

Laura Alarcon, who arrived around 9a.m., waited over an hour to cast her vote despite being one of the first persons in line. "There were no officials here and I was not able to cast my vote," she said annoyingly.

Representatives from the "Commitment to Baja California" and "United for Baja California" alliance waited for the voting process to begin to ensure a transparent process. At the same time, Municipal Police officers patrolled the area to prevent any electoral materials from being stolen.

It was not until 11a.m. when the IEPCBC stated that they were aware of only 83% of the voting poles in operation in the state: 97% in Ensenada that had 598 locations, 93% in Mexicali with 1,349 locations, 87% in Tecate with 115 locations,73%

in Tijuana with1,581 locations and 76% in Rosarito Beach that has 92 locations.

Brenda.Colon@Sandiegored.com

Omar.Martinez@Sandiegored.com