This is the Oakland Local Archive. Please visit our current site at http://oaklandlocal.com.
Login has been disabled on the archive.

Some Oakland voters find trouble at polling places

i voted, yes, I did by greenkozi, http://www.flickr.com/photos/themacinator/3003784141/

i voted, yes, I did by greenkozi, http://www.flickr.com/photos/themacinator/3003784141/

Oakland voters are going to the polls, but some are upset because their names are missing from voter listings at their polling place-or their polling place is missing from listings, perhaps because of redrawn district lines.

For Oakland organizer and artists Cat Brooks was one of several people complaining because her polling place didn't have her on its list. "I've been voting at this location for years," said Brooks, who had to file a provisional ballot this time.

A local poll-worker, who did not want to be named, said that names were left off lists all over Oakland. According to Alameda County Registrar of Voters Dave Macdonald this is not a problem unique to this election--his office gets about 60,000 provisional ballots per election.

A search in polling place locator tools revealed that some streets in Oakland, like Oakland Avenue, were missing entirely from the listings.

There are now 18.2 million registered voters in California, with more than 800,000 having already voted by mail, according to MacDonald.

 


Additional reporting by CB Smith-Dahl.

About Susan Mernit

Susan Mernit is the co-founder of Oakland Local. She is also a circuit rider for The Community Information Challenge, a program of The John S and James L Knight Foundation, a popular speaker and facilitator, and a consultant to media, non-profit and community organizations. Susan lives in North Oakland with a rescue dog named Cazzie, a little dog named Violet, a fat grey cat named Gracie, a very cool housemate, and a yard in serious need of soil remediation. She is an aspiring gardener, a long-time blogger & entrepreneur, and a recovering journalist who's found home in Oakland.