Politics
Staff from the Alameda Registrar of Voters office announced that they would not declare an official winner in Oakland’s mayoral race today, as a “few thousand” provisional ballots have yet to be counted.
By 4:00 pm today, the Registrar of Voters expects to announce the complete results and winner of Oakland’s first ranked-choice mayoral election. Registrar of Voters Dave Macdonald said on Friday that the final tally, including the previously uncounted 15,000 mail-in ballots, will likely be released this afternoon. “Who knows what could happen?” Macdonald said.
Former BART Officer Johannes Mehserle was sentenced Friday to two years in prison, including time served, for the fatal shooting of Oscar Grant III. Protesters in front of City Hall voiced their reactions moments after hearing the news to Oakland North.
After Friday’s ranked-choice vote tally, Councilmember Jean Quan leads the Oakland mayoral race 51.1 percent of the vote to Don Perata’s 48.9 percent. With about 15,000 ballots left to count in Oakland, Berkeley and San Leandro races, an announcement of the final results is expected Monday. Watch this video to see what Oaklanders think of the two leading candidates for mayor.
After an election season filled with debate over Oakland’s public safety funding woes, voters passed Measure BB Tuesday by a two-thirds majority. The measure’s approval means the city will continue collecting parking and property taxes for police, fire and violence prevention programs.
Oakland North reporter Teresa Chin provides an on-scene update of police arresting protesters who were reacting to the Johannes Mehserle sentencing.
Oakland North reporters Nicole Jones and Teresa Chin have been following tonight’s Johannes Mehserle sentencing protests. From the site of the first arrests, they filed these video reports.
A peaceful protest at Frank Ogawa Plaza turned ugly after the gathering was forced to break up at 6 p.m. Police estimated 300 to 500 protesters moved into the streets of downtown, where they blocked traffic and jumped on moving vehicles. For the full story, click here.
Oakland mayoral candidate Jean Quan overtook fellow candidate Don Perata this afternoon in the computer-run calculation of second and third-choice votes in Oakland’s new ranked-choice voting system. Although several thousand votes remain uncounted, Quan said she’s “feeling very good” about the latest results.
Store owners boarded up windows and residents gathered in front of City Hall as news of a sentence in the Johannes Mehserle trial began to spread across Oakland Friday afternoon. The two-year sentence handed-down by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry is the lightest possible prison term for Mehserle’s conviction of involuntary manslaughter. Many Oakland residents were hoping for the maximum 14-year term while others wonder how Oakland will react as the day develops.