ELECTION DAY COVERAGE: Continuous updates from the polls in Oakland

While most of the attention on Election Day will focus on Vice President and East Bay native Kamala Harris’ attempt to make history and become the nation’s first woman president, Oakland North will focus on the races that will change the makeup of the Oakland City Council

Five council seats are up for reelection and only two incumbents are asking voters to return them, which means the council will have at least three fresh faces in January. In addition, voters are being asked to recall both the mayor and the Alameda County district attorney. 

Oakland North will provide continuous coverage through Election Day and night, with coverage continuing until the votes are certified in December. Follow us here, on X (@northoaklandnow) and on Instagram (@oaklandnorthnews).

Information about how to vote and where to vote, including same-day registration, is available on the county election site.

5:06 p.m. – Voters at the Jack London Aquatic Center Weigh In on the Recall

The Jack London Aquatic Center is not just a place to launch a kayak, on election day the banquet hall opens itself to voters. By 4:30 p.m. the building is buzzing with activity as voters have filled the parking lot. 

Voters here have two options: to vote on the printed ballot paper or to cast their vote on a digital screen. Poll workers said younger people tend to opt for paper while people age 50 and up tend to choose the digital version. 

Emery Dawdell, a lifelong Oakland resident who works in the cannabis industry, voted on paper. 

Dawdell, 43, voted “yes” on the recall of Mayor Sheng Thao. 

“She seems kind of shady,” Dawdell said, referring to the ongoing FBI investigation into the mayor.

Sharon Flynn, a 60-year-old therapist, also voted to recall the mayor. 

Flynn said poor leadership and issues with the city’s finances were factors that contributed to her decision.

 “I voted for her recall,” said Flynn, “but many of my smart friends voted against it.”

Reporting by Sara Martin

4:45 p.m. – Multigenerational Voters at Mills

Dr. Sarah Lewis is a psychologist and mother of Naomi Warren, an English teacher. This is Warren’s first time voting. She’s a Spelman College grad and excited to vote for a fellow HBCU graduate, and a fellow Black woman.  

“I’m a firm believer in giving black women an opportunity,” said Warren, “so I voted for Kamala because she’s an example that girls like me can be president.” 

Still, both Warren, 25, and her mother are anxious about the election. 

“I’m terrified that our community would allow someone that denigrates all our country stands for to be president,” Dr. Lewis said. 

On getting to vote with her daughter for the first time, Lewis, 45, said:  

“It’s our responsibility to vote because our ancestors could not. So I will.”

Reporting by NeEddra James

4:23 p.m Recalls and Propositions – They’re Not Easy to Understand.

Cody Sulka, a 20-year-old college student at Brandeis, decided not to back the recall of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. 

“Three quarters of it is funded by some rich guy in Piedmont,” said Sulka on the recall.

Sulka is also skeptical about propositions, of which there are 10 statewide for Californians to decide on this year. 

“I was reading up on that one weird one that was about the renters association targeting the 

AIDS foundation,” said Sulka, referring to Prop 34, “I was like, what?”

Prop 34, the “Protect Patients Now Act,” would require that certain healthcare providers spend 98% of their revenue on direct patient care. Critics have pointed out that it will target a singular non-profit, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in Los Angeles, but the language on the ballot does not make that apparent. 

“I felt like, I don’t know, why do people in California have to do any of this voting on specific things? We don’t know shit,” said Sulka.  

Reporting by Anna Zou

2:39 p.m Prospective Voters at Mills College Need ID to Enter the Campus

Before casting their vote in today’s election, prospective voters at Northeastern University’s polling site in Oakland are being held at the gate and asked to present a valid ID.

Oakland North reporters were denied entrance to the campus for a lack of consent from the University’s media liaison. 

The supervisor onsite from Barbier Security Group, Sam Danesh, explained that because the university is private property, all visitors must agree to being identified and having their name, drivers license and license plate number entered into the security system.

When alerted to this the Northeastern Media Relations Team said that they had connected with their Oakland Team and that Oakland North reporters “were welcome to be at that location.” 

Reporting by NeEddra James

2:12pm Sankofa United Elementary School, North Oakland

Outside Sankofa Elementary school construction buzzes, as cars pass by. Prospective voters amble up the stairs through the entrance, covered in voting signs and posters. 

Shelagh Murry and Chris Deccerra, a former accountant and a labor union employee, stand on the sidewalk outside the school wearing matching I voted stickers. 

Murry said some of the rhetoric she hears is stuff she would have never imagined. “The gender insults, it’s really frightening”

“I feel like things could get really bad,” Murry said, “I think if Trump becomes president it’s going to be a real shitshow.” 

Locally, Murry is concerned about the recall elections in Oakland. She’s particularly worried by allegations that the recalls are funded by Oakland outsiders. 

“I feel like in a crisis maybe we should have the power to recall, but initiating a recall pretty much immediately after a person has been voted in strikes me as a problem,” said Murry. 

“I don’t like that people with a lot of money can override the will of the voters so quickly.” 

Reporting by Xavey Bzdek

Anna Zou, Jennifer Ugwa, NeEddra James, Nava Rawls, Sara Martin, and Xavey Bzdek contributed to this story