No voting equipment at one Calif. polling site

LOS ANGELES - As voting got under way in the hotly contested California primaries, an official at one polling station complained he had not received the proper equipment on Tuesday.

Bernie Cade, the electoral inspector at the Westside Jewish Community Center, said the equipment hadn’t arrived, hours after polls opened.

Cade said he had not received voting machines or the ink that goes in them for any of the seven booths in the polling station.

Dozens of people were sent to other polling places nearby, but Cade said a voting troubleshooter was on hand and the polling place was accepting hand-marked ballots.

Still, Cade said the process was slow, and that he was worried about more delays.

A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Registrar's said equipment would be provided soon for the Westside center.

Candidates from both parties have alot at stake in California, which provides the largest delegate haul in the primaries.

In the GOP race, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has staked his campaign on a win in California, hoping to slow Sen. John McCain's momentum toward the nomination, while Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are in a hard-fought battle for supremacy in the Golden State.

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