Sometimes it's not easy to exercise your rights in this democracy of ours... Voting can be a challenge.

Just because you are registered and you show up at your polling place doesn't mean things will go smoothly.  We're hearing stories about problems at voting locations this morning.

My wife tells me the line at her polling place stretched down the driveway onto the street.  It was moving slowly because the elderly precinct worker inside couldn't figure out how to get the voting machine to work.  Apparently, only one voting booth was operational.  Folks who were waiting to cast ballots tried to help fix the thing.  Meanwhile, the woman was on the phone with the county trying to call for someone to come out and take care of the problem.

Some people (including my spouse) got so frustrated they just left...  I hope they go back later today to try again.

We also heard from viewers about a polling place in Industry... Street crews were doing a repaving job in front.  Voters could not get inside to cast their ballots.  I'm sure parking was a problem, too.  Another woman from Simi Valley called to say that although her name was on the list of voters outside her polling location, the precinct workers INSIDE couldn't find it.  Now that's annoying too.

You may need some patience today, especially if you show up during the busy periods... By the way, if you've forgotten where you're supposed to vote, here's the website that tells you:  www.smartvoter.org. It has links to county registrar sites and also provides useful summaries of ballot measures.