As California’s long-awaited presidential primary begins, Claremont will have no shortage of polling places.

The City of Trees has 14 locations across town: Vista del Valle Elementary, 550 Vista Dr.; Oakmont Elementary, 120 W. Green St.; Claremont Center for Spiritual Living, 509 S. College Ave.; Pomona College, 170 E. Sixth St.; Claremont Manor, 650 W. Harrison Ave.; Sycamore School, 225 W. Eighth St.; Claremont Masonic Lodge, 272 W. Eighth St.; Joslyn Center, 660 N. Mountain Ave.; Alexander Hughes Community Center, 1700 Danbury Rd.; Sumner Elementary, 1770 Sumner Ave.; Taylor Hall, 1775 N. Indian Hill Blvd.; St. Luke Lutheran Church, 2050 Indian Hill Blvd; Chaparral Elementary, 451 Chaparral Dr.; and Claremont Fire Station 62, 3701 N. Mills Ave.

The method for assigning polling places is unclear. Among COURIER staff members, a resident of Eighth Street in the Village voted at Sycamore School, another staffer who lives just two blocks south on Harrison Avenue voted at the Joslyn Center, and a third, who lives two blocks south on Bonita and Indian HIll was sent to the Center for Spiritual Living on South College Avenue.

Voters who registered to vote without stating a political party are known as No Party Preference (NPP) voters. NPP voters were formerly known as “decline-to-state” or “DTS” voters.

For the presidential race, an NPP voter should have received a non-partisan ballot, which will have no presidential candidates listed. When this voter gets to the polls, however, he or she may request a ballot for the Democratic, American Independent or Libertarian parties.

Each political party has the option of allowing NPP voters to vote in their presidential primary election by notifying the Secretary of State’s office 135 days before the election. The Democratic, American Independent and Libertarian parties all notified the Secretary of State that they will allow NPP voters to request their party’s ballot for the June 7 presidential primary election. In other words, if you are registered NPP, your Claremont poll worker is required by law to allow you to vote in the Democratic primary. The Republican, Green and Peace & Freedom parties notified the Secretary of State that they have will allow NPP voters to request their party’s ballot.

Claremont voters are urged to bring both your official ballot that should have been mailed to your home a few weeks ago and a photo ID to the polls. If you have lost your ballot, you may be required to cast a provisional ballot, which will be counted after election officials have confirmed that you are registered to vote and that you haven’t already sent in a mail-in ballot. This could take up to 28 days.

The polling locations are paid for and coordinated by the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters, according to Media and Communications Assistant Mike Sanchez.

Polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.