African American News & Issues
Oakland, Stand Up and Be Counted in This Recall Election
At a vote center, you can vote in person, get help in multiple languages, cast your vote by using an accessible voting machine, and utilize same day registration and cast your ballot Voters can vote at any center in the county up to 10 days before Election Day.
In the next two weeks, we all have a decision to make that will shape California for years to come. The recall election is currently underway and on election day, Sept. 14, the votes cast will decide not just the future of Gov. Gavin Newsom, but that of the whole state.
The recall ballot, asks two questions. The first question asks if you support recalling (removing) Gov. Newsom. If more than 50% support the recall, Newsom will be removed from office. The second question lists all the recall candidates vying to be governor. Whoever gets the most votes will hold the office through January 2023, the remainder of Newsom’s term.
Whether Newsom remains or is replaced, whoever is declared governor after election day will have authority to make important decisions that impact your lives and your access to important services — like funding for our public schools and how the state taxes you pay are used to support state programs.
The outcome of this election will decide who manages the budget of the world’s 5th largest economy. It will determine the path we take on problems like housing affordability and homelessness, or the historic drought and wildfires we’ve seen this past year. And that’s just to name a few.
The Oakland NAACP wants the community to understand that its vote has power and that it is critical to ensuring our democracy works. We learned that from those that preceded us, people like James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, three activists associated with the Congress Of Racial Equality (CORE), who were abducted and viciously murdered in Mississippi in 1964 during the civil rights movement. Their sacrifice — alongside countless other racial equity fighters — is a reminder that the right to vote as a US citizen can never be taken for granted.
Thankfully, our state makes voting so convenient that there is no excuse for anyone not to vote. In 2016, California lawmakers passed the Voter’s Choice Act (VCA). The VCA expanded early voting in Alameda County. Traditional polling places have been replaced with vote centers which serve as a one-stop shops for all your voting needs.
At a vote center, you can vote in person, get help in multiple languages, cast your vote by using an accessible voting machine, and utilize same day registration and cast your ballot Voters can vote at any center in the county up to 10 days before Election Day.
All registered Alameda County voters have been sent a ballot in the mail. Returned ballots have already been counted. The deadline for registering or re-registering for the recall election was Monday, Aug. 30. If you missed the deadline, you can “conditionally” register and vote at any vote center after the voter registration deadline, up to and including Election Day.
The Secretary of State website also offers a tool to help you find early voting and ballot drop-off locations in your neighborhood. You can use the BallotTrax tool to confirm that your vote has been counted.
Too many fought for too long for our right to vote for us to pass it up. You have a choice to make – take this chance to shape our futures.
