Oakland 2020 election live updates: Short lines as in-person voting gets underway

Saturday 31 October 14:18

The Oakland Coliseum and Arena and other accessible voting centers have opened

According to the county registrar of voters, approximately half of all voters have already mailed in their ballot or dropped it off at a drop box. But thousands more are expected to vote at the county’s 100 voting centers between now and Tuesday evening.

Alameda County’s biggest voting center, at the Oakland Coliseum and Arena, opened this morning at 9 a.m. A small but steady stream of voters entered from the 66th Avenue entrance and were directed by attendants through the parking lot. Most dropped off their completed ballots directly with the registrar, a process that took only a minute in most cases. A few people parked and walked into the Arena and voted in person.

“I felt like it was easy,” said Brandon Lomax, an East Oakland resident. Lomax chose to vote in person out of habit—and security concerns. “I just always vote this way, and because of hearing about lost mail.”

The Coliseum’s parking lot also offers a free COVID-19 test station this weekend.

At the Allen Temple Baptist Church voting center at 85th Avenue and International Boulevard, poll workers greeted voters at the entrance to the parking lot. They told The Oaklandside it was a quiet morning, but they expected the number of voters to go up in the afternoon.

World Central Kitchen is handing out free hot meals at Allen Temple as part of its #ChefsForThePolls program. The food at Allen Temple was provided by Oakland’s Tacos Siñaloa. A representative of World Central Kitchen said they’ll hand out food until they run out today, and return tomorrow, Monday, and Election Day. The group is also handing out food at multiple other voting centers in Oakland.

Back near the Oakland Coliseum and Arena, opponents of Proposition 22 gathered at 11 a.m. for a protest on 66th Avenue. Proposition 22 is sponsored by companies that rely on gig workers, including Uber, Lyft, and Doordash. It would permanently classify these companies’ workers as independent contractors, making them ineligible for higher pay, benefits, and other protections afforded to employees. Lyft has also gotten involved in Oakland’s elections, spending several hundred thousand dollars in an attempt to unseat at-large Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan and supporting her opponent, Derreck Johnson.

Hector Castellanos, who has driven for Uber and Lyft for about six years, was at the protest dressed as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from the movie “Ghostbusters.”

“We’re here to encourage the people to vote no on Prop. 22,” he said. “If this proposition passes, it’s going to be worse for drivers. Right now, we have to struggle to get food on the table.”

Lyft and other gig companies, which have spent over $200 million campaigning for Proposition 22, say a defeat at the polls will force them to cut jobs.

Over in Fruitvale, poll workers stood outside Ascend Elementary School, ready to help voters drop off their ballots or vote in person inside the school. Markings on the sidewalk around the perimeter of the building indicate 6-foot spacing for people to line up safely.

Options abound for voters at several voting centers this year. At Oakland High School, voters can drive up and either pull over right in front of a drop-off area where a poll worker can collect the ballot, walk-up, and hand-deliver it, or drive into the parking lot of the school located next to the main entrance on MacArthur Blvd, park, and walk inside to vote in person.

Rose, who declined to give her last name, said she lives in the Rose Garden area a few minutes away. She told The Oaklandside that she wanted to vote in person. “I wanted to be here and vote and not just mail my ballot,” she said. She added that voting was a “fabulous” experience.

At the downtown Oakland YMCA, the setup is geared less toward people arriving in cars, and more toward walk-up and bicycle transportation.

Shrim Bathey, who walked to this voting site along with her husband and children, told The Oaklandside she would like to see this more flexible model of voting sites continue moving forward.

“I love that California has so many options to be able to vote,” said Bathey. “I would support this model of voting if all the rules and guidelines are followed.” 

When asked why she decided to drop off her ballot rather than mail, she explained, “I know that the post office is backed up and this felt more secure—more like voting.”

—Azucena Rasilla and Darwin BondGraham

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