The Alameda County Registrar of Voters has sent out 27,000 postcards to Berkeley voters informing them that the date of the election printed on their mail-in ballots is wrong. The date reads Nov. 5, when of course the actual date is Nov. 4.
“This is an unfortunate error on some vote-by-mail envelopes sent to voters in Berkeley, and we deeply regret any confusion this may be causing,” Alameda County Registrar of Voters Tim Dupuis said in a press release.
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A printer used by Alameda County and other California counties has accepted responsibility for the error, said Dupuis.
More than half of registered voters in Alameda County vote by mail. The 27,000 voters who received the misprinted envelopes represent about 6% of the 422,000 voters who are registered to vote by mail in Alameda County.
New money to defeat Measure D
Meanwhile, the company that owns Landmark Theaters, which has numerous movie screens in Berkeley, has donated $9,167 in in-kind donations to defeat Measure D, the proposal to add a one-cent tax on soda. The movie chain will waive its fee to run ads for the No on Measure D campaign, according to Roger Salazar, a spokesman for the campaign. Landmark runs the Shattuck Cinemas and California Theater in Berkeley.
Silver Cinemas Acquisition Company, based in Los Angeles will make its donation during the period of Oct 17 though Nov. 4, according to campaign records. While the donation is a mere fraction of the $1.7 million that American Beverage Association California PAC has put towards the No on Measure D campaign, it is the first contribution to come from someplace other than the ABA PAC.
New funds for No on R campaign
The National Association of Realtors, based in Chicago, gave $95,000 on Oct. 20 to the No on Measure R campaign. Measure R, conceptualized and supported by City Councilman Jesse Arreguín, would establish new requirements on tall buildings in the downtown area. Mayor Tom Bates has donated $11,000 to the No on R campaign.
Support from Berkeley Police
The Berkeley Police Officers PAC has paid for mailers for two candidates: Sean Barry, who is seeking to defeat City Councilman Kriss Worthington in District 7 and Michael Alvarez Cohen, who is competing with George Beier, Lori Droste, and Jacquelyn McCormick for the District 8 seat that City Councilman Gordon Wozniak is vacating. The PAC spent $3,460 on a mailer in support of Barry and $3,063 on one in support of Cohen. The funds are considered independent expenditures, which means the candidates had no involvement with the mailers.
Update: This article has been updated to show that Landmark Theaters is making an in-kind donation, rather than direct, donation to the No on Measure D campaign.
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