ELECTION RESULTS: Yes on recalls leads early returns.

Alameda County released the first batch of votes shortly after the polls closed at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, showing strong support for the recalls of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.

The first set of results came strictly from early mail-in ballots and do not reflect any polling results.

Nearly two-thirds of mail-in voters want both Thao and Price to be recalled.

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. Mail-in voters favored Rowena Brown for the at-large seat, followed closely by former Oakland Police Chief Leronne Armstrong, who was fired by Thao. Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan did not seek reelection.

In District 1, Oakland firefighter Zac Unger was leading. Incumbent Carroll Fife was ahead in District 3, as we incumbent Noel Gallo in District 5. Ken Houston was leading in District 7, which currently is held by Treva Reid, who did not seek reelection. District 1 Councilmember Dan Kalb also is not seeking reelection.

6:00 pm-Watch Party for Warren Logan at Brix Factory Brewing 

Ryan Loughlin walked around Brix Factory Brewing — beer in hand and baby in tow — at an election watch party for Warren Logan, who is running for Oakland’s District 3 seat. 

“He represents just a completely new approach,” said Loughlin. “He has some really great ideas for helping to turn around both the city and the neighborhood here.”

Yarema Belej, 43, said he voted for Logan because he believes Logan stands for change. 

“I think the person who was here before just wasn’t very effective,” said Belej, speaking of incumbent Carroll Fife. “She was leading a full progressive movement that never really did work well before.“

Logan, an adviser for Progress Public Affairs, said he was feeling “incredibly enthusiastic” about the work his campaign team did and the reception he has received from voters. His goals, he said, are “making sure streets are clean, making sure that people feel safe walking around our community.”

Reporting By Inaara Gangji and Kelly Liu

5:06 pm – Voters at the Jack London Aquatic Center Weigh In on the Recall

The Jack London Aquatic Center was buzzing with activity as voters filled the parking lot. 

Emery Dawdell, a lifelong Oakland resident who works in the cannabis industry, voted “yes” on the Thao Thao. 

“She seems kind of shady,” Dawdell said, referring to the ongoing FBI investigation that included a raid on the mayor’s home in June.

Sharon Flynn, a 60-year-old therapist, also voted for the recall. Flynn said poor leadership and issues with the city’s finances were factors that contributed to her decision.

Reporting by Sara Martin

4:45 pm – Multigenerational Voters at Mills

At Mills College at Northeastern University, Sarah Lewis voted with her daughter, Naomi Warren, a Spelman College graduate who was excited to vote for a fellow HBCU graduate, Vice President Kamala Harris, who went to Howard University.

“I’m a firm believer in giving Black women an opportunity, so I voted for Kamala because she’s an example that girls like me can be president,” said Warren, who voted for the first time in this election,

On getting to vote with her daughter for the first time, Lewis, said:  “It’s our responsibility to vote because our ancestors could not, so I will.”

Prospective voters at the college polling site were being stopped at the gate and asked to present identification. At first, Oakland North reporters were denied entrance to the campus. 

In polling places, California voters do not have to present identification.

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 University, decided not to back the recall of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. 

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

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 health care providers spend 98% of their revenue on direct patient care. Critics have pointed out that it will target a singular nonprofit, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in Los Angeles, but the language on the ballot does not make that apparent. 

Reporting by Anna Zou

2:12 pm Sankofa United Elementary School, North Oakland

Outside Sankofa Elementary School, construction equipment buzzed, as cars passed by and voters ambled 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, stood outside wearing matching “I voted” stickers. 

Murry said she’s 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,” Murry said. 

“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