On Nov. 8, Oakland residents will select the following mayor, Metropolis Council and faculty board members for districts 2, 4, and 6, plus resolve amongst a slew of poll measures, whereas additionally voting on county, state, and nationwide races. The Oaklandside is protecting the native races in-depth and you’ll observe our reporting right here.
This information is to assist Oakland residents perceive the Nov. 8 normal election and learn to participate. We’ll replace it primarily based in your questions and strategies.
What’s the final election all about?
How do I participate within the election? First, register to vote
How does voting work?
The place’s my poll?
What are my rights as a voter?
What’s on the poll?
What’s the final election all about?
The overall election is the ultimate probability for voters to have a say in who must be elected to public workplace. A number of the candidates—primarily these operating for partisan state and nationwide workplaces like governor or senator, together with candidates for county workplaces like district lawyer—have been nominated months in the past throughout the main election. Different candidates—principally these operating for nonpartisan native workplaces like Metropolis Council and faculty board—are showing on the poll for the primary time.
That is the primary normal election through which voters will choose representatives primarily based on the most recent district maps that have been created by the latest redistricting processes on the state and native ranges. So when Oaklanders vote for Metropolis Council, mayor, and extra this fall, we’ll be utilizing town’s new map.
Don’t know what Oakland district you reside in? Plug your handle into this map to seek out out.
How do I participate within the election? First, register to vote
So as to vote, it’s important to register. If you’re already registered, you in all probability don’t should do it once more, except you latterly moved. However you would possibly need to examine the standing of your registration simply in case.
To register, it’s important to be 18 or older, a resident of California, and never at present serving a jail sentence for a felony. And as a way to vote in Oakland’s elections for issues like councilmembers and faculty board administrators, it’s important to be an Oakland resident.
The simplest solution to register is on the Secretary of State’s web site. You’ll want a driver’s license or state ID card, beginning date, and Social Safety Quantity. It’s also possible to register in individual on the Alameda County Registrar of Voters workplace within the basement of the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse, 1225 Fallon Road, Room G1, in downtown Oakland.
The deadline to register is all the time 15 days earlier than an election. For this upcoming election, that day is October 24, 2022. In the event you miss that deadline, it’s also possible to register on the identical day you vote if you happen to go to an in-person voting heart.
In fact, voting isn’t the one approach to participate. In the event you’re beneath 18, not a citizen, or can’t vote for another purpose, you possibly can nonetheless partake within the election by volunteering to help a candidate or poll measure marketing campaign, by making a monetary contribution to somebody’s marketing campaign, and by informing your self and others concerning the points and candidates.
How does voting work?
If you’re registered to vote, you must obtain a voter info pamphlet on or after Sept. 29. This booklet consists of fundamental details about the election and what’s on the poll.
The Alameda County Registrar of Voters will mail ballots to each registered voter beginning Oct. 10, 2022, the primary day of voting. When you get your poll, you possibly can vote by filling it out and doing one of many following:
- Mail it again to the registrar utilizing its pre-paid postage. To depend, it should be postmarked on or earlier than Election Day and acquired no later than 17 days after Election Day
- Deposit it in a safe poll dropbox on or earlier than Nov. 8. Right here’s a map of all of the dropboxes in Alameda County
- Hand your mail-in poll over to ballot employees at a voting heart
In the event you didn’t obtain your mail-in poll, you could possibly request one in individual on the registrar’s workplace at 1225 Fallon Road in Oakland till Nov. 1, 2022.
In the event you want to vote in individual, you possibly can go to a voting heart. Alameda County is considered one of 24 Voters Selection Act counties within the state. These counties have made it a lot simpler to vote by mailing everybody a poll and organising in-person voting facilities, the earliest of which open 11 days previous to Election Day this 12 months.
There can be 20 voting heart places in Alameda county open all 11 days. Six of these can be situated in Oakland. And lots of extra throughout the county will open up 4 days previous to the election, together with about 20 polling places in Oakland.
In line with Brittany Stonesifer, an lawyer with the ACLU of Northern California, the purpose of opening voting facilities so many days earlier than Nov. 8 is to encourage voting; spreading out the time that individuals can vote will make crowds and lengthy traces at polling locations much less doubtless.
And to make voting much more handy, it doesn’t matter what metropolis you reside in you possibly can vote at any of the 100 voting facilities wherever in Alameda County. So Oakland residents who work in Fremont can select to vote at a middle there if that’s simpler.
The place’s my poll?
If the Oct. 10 date comes and goes and also you’re nonetheless ready to obtain your poll within the mail from the registrar, you possibly can observe it utilizing this web site.
You should use the identical web site to trace your poll when you’ve mailed it or dropped it off. You’ll obtain notifications when the registrar has safely acquired your poll and when it has been counted.
What are my rights as a voter?
If you’re in line ready to vote at 8 p.m. on Nov. 8 when polls shut, the employees working the voting heart nonetheless should assist you to vote, regardless of how lengthy it takes. Keep in line and wait your flip so your voice is heard. If a voting machine breaks, you may have a proper to a paper poll. And if you happen to make a mistake or your poll is broken, you may have the fitting to ask for a brand new one.
In the event you or anyone you recognize experiences an issue on the polls—somebody tries to intimidate you or dissuade you from voting, for instance—the Legal professionals Committee for Civil Rights runs a hotline you possibly can instantly name at 1-866-OUR-VOTE. They’ll reply questions and make it easier to assert your rights.
If a voting location shouldn’t be ADA-compliant, Incapacity Rights California operates a hotline to area complaints and assist repair accessibility issues. If you recognize {that a} location that can be used as a polling place wants consideration at the moment, they’re already accessible at 1-800-776-5746.
In the event you discover points with language entry, similar to not having the ability to print out a poll within the language of your alternative, or if there’s a technical or personnel problem that results in confusion, it’s also possible to name native and statewide voting rights advocates like Asian Individuals Advancing Justice – Asian Legislation Caucus and Bay Rising.
Final however not least, what’s on the poll?
The native, nonpartisan workplaces on this 12 months’s normal election poll for Oakland voters will embody:
You will discover all our protection of those races right here. And if you wish to take a look at the candidates in individual, or at a stay discussion board or Zoom debate, take a look at our listing of upcoming occasions.
Different native nonpartisan races embody the next county and particular district positions that signify elements of Oakland or in any other case overlap with techniques and companies within the metropolis (suppose AC Transit’s buses). We’ll cowl a few of these races, however our fundamental focus is on town of Oakland. There’s an entire listing of candidates for these workplaces and extra on the registrar’s web site.
- County Supervisor District 3
- District Legal professional
- AC Transit At-large
- BART Board District 4
- EBMUD Ward 6
After which there are propositions and measures. Propositions are selections voters make immediately about whether or not or to not amend the state structure or change any of its statutory legal guidelines. Measures are native variations of propositions, used to vary a metropolis’s constitution or elevate or renew taxes.
Metropolis of Oakland Measures
- Measure Q – Article 34 reasonably priced housing authorization
- Measure R – Gender-neutral language together with pronouns
- Measure S – Non-citizen voting
- Measure T – Progressive enterprise tax III
- Measure U – New infrastructure bond measure
- Measure V – Simply Trigger ordinance modification
- Measure W – Marketing campaign reform
- Measure X – Authorities reform constitution amendments
- Measure Y – Oakland Zoo
County of Alameda Measures
- Measure D – Modifications to the “Save Agriculture and Open Area Lands” initiative of 2000
Oakland Unified Faculty District Measures
- Measure H – Renew a $120 parcel tax that funds packages that “scale back dropout charges, put together Oakland college students for school and Twenty first-century careers, entice and retain extremely certified lecturers, and supply mentoring, tutoring, and counseling.”
California State Propositions
Once you get your poll, you’re additionally going to see lists of candidates operating for the next state constitutional voter-nominated workplaces. We’re not protecting these races, however we advocate you take a look at CalMatters, The Los Angeles Instances, The San Francisco Chronicle, East Bay Instances, and different newspapers to observe these essential races. They’ll even have details about federal elections we didn’t point out right here, like who’s operating for Congress and president.
- Governor
- Lieutenant Governor
- Legal professional Common
- Controller
- Secretary of State
- Treasurer
- Insurance coverage Commissioner
- Member of the State Board of Equalization
- State Senator
- State Assemblymember
