Polls Open for Primary Election

Voting begins at 7 a.m. Tuesday in a special primary election to fill a Congressional seat that became open to join a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

There are  to represent the district and serve an unexpired two-year term. The largely coastal district stretches from Venice to San Pedro and includes Hermosa Beach.

The state's new "top two" election system will be applied, which went into effect Jan. 1 after voters endorsed the changes in June when they passed Proposition 14.

Under the new rules, if no candidate gets a majority of the primary vote, then the top two finishers will face each other in the July 12 special general election, even if they are from the same party.

As of March, there are 345,511 active registered voters in the 36th Congressional District, according to the county Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's office. Voters in Hermosa Beach can visit the following polling places:

1. The garage at the county lifeguard station on 1200 The Strand;
2. Room 7 in the  on Pier Avenue;
3. The lobby of on Herondo Street;
4. The 's youth center meeting hall on Valley Drive.

Polls close at 8 p.m. For more voter information, visit the Los Angeles County Registrar.