If you live in downtown Berkeley, and you’ve been waiting to cast your mail-in ballot, Tuesday, March 7, is the day.
Unofficial results will be available after 8 p.m. when the polls close. The mail-in election began Feb. 6. All registered voters in District 4 should have gotten a ballot in the mail.
There will be just one release of results, around 8 p.m., which may primarily include ballots cast prior to Tuesday. The next round of results won’t come until 4 p.m. Friday.
Residents have until 8 p.m. to turn in their ballots to the downtown drop box, at 2180 Milvia St.; the registrar of voters office, at 1225 Fallon St. in Oakland; or — if you’re willing to throw caution to the wind — a regular mailbox. Ballots (postmarked by March 7) must be received by Friday to count. No additional postage is needed.
On Election Day, the city of Berkeley will open a “voting center” from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the first floor of the Berkeley Civic Center Building, at 2180 Milvia St.: “At the voting center, an accessible touchscreen/audio voting machine will be available for voters with visual, auditory, or motor skill limitations.”
Voters may also drop off filled-out ballots at the voting center.
In addition, voters with the limitations listed above may use an accessible machine at the registrar of voters office, which will be open until 8 p.m. (They will need to turn in their paper ballot to do so.)
There’s also a ballot drop box at 1221 Oak St. in downtown Oakland outside the Alameda County Administration Building.
News coverage of the election appears in the list below this story.
Interested in Opinion pieces about the candidates, too? See the District 4 archive page. All stories and editorials appear, newest to oldest, in the list. Berkeleyside does not endorse candidates.
The two candidates on the ballot are Kate Harrison and Ben Gould. Former district Councilman Jesse Arreguín was elected mayor of the city in November after longtime Mayor Tom Bates stepped down, leaving an open seat until the election takes place.
See the complete list of campaign contributions, through Feb. 18, compiled by the City Clerk’s office. Harrison had raised nearly $43,000 for her campaign to that point, and Gould had raised about $16,000.)
Until the seat is filled, there are only eight votes on council, which has already resulted in at least one deadlock.
See complete election information from the Alameda County registrar of voters. See the sample ballot guide.
See the election page on the city of Berkeley website. According to a Dec. 8 council item, the special election is set to cost $158,500. Conducting the election by mail reduces the cost by 40%, according to the council item.
Learn more about Kate Harrison and Ben Gould on their websites.
