An election nightmare could be unfolding in Berkeley, as voters in one neighborhood say they never received their mail-in ballots, in the very area where a mail carrier was robbed earlier this month.

You may have seen today’s shocking accounts of arson at ballot boxes in the states of Washington, Oregon, and Arizona, with hundreds of already-cast ballots being damaged.  

Something similarly troubling may be happening in Berkeley. NBC Bay Area had a report last week that a number of Berkeley residents had not received their mail-in ballots as of October 24, less than two weeks from Election Day. And Berkeleyside connected the dots a few days before with reports that a mail truck had been burglarized in the neighborhood, with the mail carrier saying ballots had been among the items stolen in that incident.

According to Berkeleyside’s report, the mail truck was robbed on October 9 at about 4 pm on the 3100 block of King Street. That information was confirmed by U.S. Postal Inspector Matthew Norfleet. But Berkeleyside also notes that the Berkeley Police acknowledged that the person who phoned in the robbery (likely a postal carrier) said that ballots were among the mail items stolen.

Law enforcement considered it unlikely that stealing ballots was the motivation here, someone probably just wanted to steal mail for financial gain, and perhaps ended up with ballots and a bunch of election mailer ads to boot. But the affected voters worried that someone could dishonestly vote in their name, and cancel out their legitimate vote in the process.  

"If somebody had a mind to, they could just vote fraudulently for everyone on the block," Berkeley resident Julie Chervin told NBC Bay Area.

That outlet spoke to several county election authorities who were adamant that there were many safeguards in place to prevent such fraudulent voting. Signatures on the backs of envelopes are checked for consistently with signatures on record, and mail-in ballots have barcodes to monitor their delivery, for whatever that is worth if the ballot has been stolen.

"The security around this process is extraordinary. California has one of the best procedures in place," Alameda County registrar Tim Dupuis told NBC Bay Area.

Dupuis also noted in his remarks to Berkeleyside that anyone who suspects their mail-in ballot has been stolen can report it as such to their county Registrar of Voters (in Berkeley, that phone number is 510-272-6973). You can also check the status of your mail-in ballot online to see if it’s been delivered.

You can also just head off and vote ASAP at a county elections center. Here are Alameda County’s elections centers, and San Francisco Couny’s election center is on the ground floor at SF City Hall.

Related: Outrage Grows Over Postal Carrier Robberies After Armed Robber Sentenced to Only 30 Days in Jail [SFist]

Image: SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 21: Election materials are displayed on a table at the Santa Clara County registrar of voters office on October 21, 2024 in San Jose, California. Early voting for the 2024 Presidential election began on October 7th in California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

San Francisco Mayor London Breed is getting started early to spread the word about some new ballot measures on her agenda.

Breed, along with several other local politicians, held a rally in Japantown Saturday morning that gathered a crowd of dozens, per the Chronicle. She reportedly spoke in support of three bills that will be on SF’s March election ballot, Measures C, E, and F. All aim to tackle, in various ways, the problems behind the Doom Loop narrative: the empty downtown, public safety, and drug issues — but they’re not without controversy.

Measure C would remove SF’s “transfer tax,” the tax (currently ranging anywhere from 0.5% to 6%) that developers face when converting buildings from offices to housing. Its goal is to make it easier for some much-needed redevelopment amid the city’s affordable housing crisis, while about 18.4 million square feet of commercial space in downtown SF remain empty. SF State Senator Scott Weiner was reportedly in attendance and spoke in support of the measure. (Breed has been talking about these Twitter HQ-like tax breaks as part of her sweeping "Roadmap to Downtown San Francisco’s Future" since early last year, as we covered at the time.)

Breed also spoke about Measures E and F, which have already received heavy criticism. Measure E aims to increase police surveillance and decrease police paperwork after incidents like use-of-force ones. As we reported last year, the measure would give police more “tools” to combat crime like drones and additional public surveillance cameras. It would also ease restrictions on vehicle pursuits in the city, allowing police to chase car burglars, for instance, so long as the pursuit is deemed "safe."

Measure F focuses on welfare recipients with substance abuse problems. It would mandate that those receiving cash assistance from the county with such disorders enroll in treatment. It’s already sparked controversy in the city, with Supervisor Aaron Peskin, the board president, questioning if the city can provide enough beds for treatment, as the Chronicle previously reported.

All this is part of the lead up to San Francisco's next election, which will take place March 5, 2024. We’ll also be voting in primaries for President and the Senate then. Breed is up for reelection this November, and polls show that she’s not looking too hot.

Feature image of London Breed via Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images.

Nearly 2% of California voters had their mail-in ballots rejected in the June primary, which is sad, but Alameda County’s lowest rejection level statewide has anti-tax groups up in arms demanding the county reject more people’s votes.

It’s discouraging to see the California Secretary of State’s county-by-county breakdown of rejected mail-in ballots from our latest election, the June 7 primary, which shows that 105,818 California voters (1.6%) had their vote-by-mail ballots rejected. These rejections are largely for ticky-tack reasons: they didn’t have an envelope signature, the signature did not match the one on file, or they arrived postmarked late. Certainly a 1.6% gap can swing certain elections, so pay attention to this things, people!

For our part, San Francisco County rejected 3,134 mail-in ballots out of about half a million ballots cast, for well under a 1% rejection rate. Sad, but I can live with that. Because compare that to a Bay Area News Group assessment of some other counties: “Merced tops the list of 58 counties for mail-in ballot rejections with 3.2% of votes discarded, amounting to 957 ballots. Yuba, San Benito and Tulare all had rates at or above 2.7%. Meanwhile, San Bernardino County in Southern California rejected 3.0% of mail-in ballots.”

That assessment comes in a report about Alameda County’s exceptionally low mail-in ballot rejection rate. That report notes that Alameda County “had the lowest rejection rate in California — amounting to just 0.3% of mail-in ballots going uncounted. Startlingly, Alameda reported only 23 ballots rejected for arriving late. By comparison, Contra Costa, which has a smaller population, rejected 3,388 ballots.”

Some might commend Alameda County for counting as many votes as possible. Others do not.

Alameda County Taxpayers Association attorney Jason Bezis fumed to the News Group that that low rejection was “completely unbelievable,” and added that “If Alameda County’s health care system reported deaths from ‘cardiac arrest’ at one percent of the expected statewide rate, there would be cries of disbelief and immediate demands for reform.”

We don’t have an official explanation for the discrepancy, as the Alameda County election chief did not respond to the News Groups’ request for comment. The nonpartisan California Voter Foundation’s president Kim Alexander sai it may be an innocent typo, adding “It’s entirely possible that somebody left a digit out or two,” and “These numbers are as reliable as the counties reporting the data.”

That said, folks, make sure you drop your mail-in ballot in time to get a November 8 postmark so it counts. You can also check the status of your mail-in ballot online to ensure your vote has been counted.

Related: SF Store Owner Sees Thief Break Into Mailbox, Discards at Least One Ballot [SFist]

Image: Joe Kukura, SFist

The owner of Reliance Market at 20th and Castro streets in San Francisco witnessed every mail-in-ballot-casting voter’s worst nightmare this past Friday: a local mailbox being broken into and purged of ballots.

As reported by ABC7, the owner of Reliance Market, a small corner store in The Castro, saw a vandal tamper, break into, and sift through a mailbox outside his shop Friday night.

Sami Wahab, the owner of Reliance Market, told ABC7 he saw the thief drop "at least one ballot," though he worries more ballots might have been stolen, discarded, or fiddled with.

"[I got] really upset when I [saw this was] happening," said Wahab to the local news outlet. "We really need to have a fair election."

Wahab later found one discarded ballot and handed it to a neighborhood postal worker to be properly collected.

Surveillance footage shows the vandal — who looks to be male, wearing an oversized gray hoodie and front-facing baseball cap — using some sort of stringed contraption to "fish" through the mailbox, pulling up letters and ballots; the video also shows the criminal fleeing in what looks like an early-2000s gray Toyota Corolla.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is actively looking into the incident and is asking that anyone with information regarding the crime contact them at 1-877-876-2455.

This recent mailbox tampering comes during a time of increased mail theft across the country, according to NBC News. Between more goods than ever being delivered by mail due to the pandemic and omnipresent financial hardships, Postal Inspection Service data gathered by the news outlet showed more than 177,000 mail theft reports have been recorded so far in 2020 — a stark uptick from last year's 99,506 reports.

And don't forget: you can track your mail-in ballot at ballottrax.net to see if it's been delivered and counted.

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Image: Courtesy of Getty Images via plasticsteak1

With just over a week until Election Day, the Shanti Project — a volunteer nonprofit organization that helps the well-being of people with terminal, life-threatening or disabling illnesses or conditions — and the City have teamed up to offer personalized ballot pick-up and drop-off services to local voters who need them.

This election year has seen intentionally mislabeled ballot boxes (presented by the California GOP), unsubstantiated remarks from the President stating that voting by mail is rife with fraud, and, among other disappointments, ongoing voter suppression efforts across the country. (Harris County, the largest county in Texas where north of four million people reside, recently closed 11 drop-off locations; a bombshell report from Vice earlier this month showed some 21,000 Election Day polling locations for 2020 had been eliminated since 2016.)

All things considered: voting, especially for marginalized communities and vulnerable people, has become increasingly complicated as of late. However, in the waning days leading up to November 3, San Francisco and a local nonprofit have teamed up to make sure everyone has the means and opportunity to exercise their right to vote.

“Voting is essential to our democracy, and we need to support people in our community who need extra help to safely cast their ballot in this election,” says Mayor Breed in a release for Deliver the Vote, a nonpartisan initiative to help San Francisco residents unable to leave their homes cast their vote in the upcoming election

“Not everyone can easily walk to their nearest polling place or [mailbox], and especially with COVID, it’s more important than ever that we offer this service to our most vulnerable residents,” Breed continues.

At its core, Deliver the Vote ballot is a pick-up and drop-off service now available to any San Franciscan who finds themself unable to visit a polling station or ballot drop-off box on or before Election Day; the service is available upon request to in-need locals.

A volunteer from the Shanti Project will be assigned to visit the requestee’s residence, pick up their ballot, drop it off at the City’s Voting Center or an official drop-off site, and provide information to the voter on how they can track their ballot.

“In this political climate, we must do everything possible to protect and preserve the civil rights of our most marginalized communities,” says Shakirah Simley, a member of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission — the branch of the City helping steer the project.

“Safe and accessible voting options are critical for San Francisco voters of color, many who struggle with disabilities, are homebound or immunocompromised," Simley emphasizes in the release. "I’m thrilled to work with Shanti, [Department of Disability and Aging Services], and our community partners to deliver this essential service, and ensure equity and inclusion in this election cycle.”

Both Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the San Francisco Department of Disability and Aging Services, and the Shanti Project’s Executive Director Kaushik Roy also expressed the importance of the initiative. McSpadden waxed in the release that we must "do everything possible to protect and preserve the civil rights of our most marginalized communities"; Roy noted "nothing is more essential than voting" to help keep a democracy alive and functional.

Deliver the Vote is also seeking out additional help from other local nonprofit agencies to serve homebound San Franciscans cast their vote in the upcoming election. Those organizations can email vote@shanti.org for more information on the project and how they can contribute.

Individuals interested in volunteering for the Shanti Project can visit ww.shanti.org/volunteer to learn more about currently available opportunities and find the appropriate application to fill out.

For any SF resident facing challenges dropping off their ballot, contact the Shanti Project for assistance by texting (415) 449-7190 or calling (415) 674-4701 to request help. More details on the Deliver the Vote initiative can be found at www.shanti.org/volunteer/vote.

Related: California GOP Putting Out Bogus Ballot Boxes In At Least Three Counties

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What Are the California November Ballot Initiatives, and How Are They Polling? A Review

Image: A car passenger places a ballot in an official mail-in ballot drop box outside of the L.A. County Registrar’s office ahead of Election Day on October 14, 2020 in Norwalk, California. (Courtesy of Getty Images News via Mario Tama/ Staff)

SFist has received scores of emails and a few comments today, Cathy-ing about the lack of ballots and alleged chaos at certain polling stations.

We asked a voting official today, who asked to remain anonymous, if the polling stations aren't well-equipped, if ballots are running out, and if the sky will fall.

Not so. According to our source:

We will NEVER run out of ballots. There are enough for this election. Turnout is high and even higher than anticipated in some precincts. This leads to a temporary shortage of ballots until a field deputy can deliver more securely. These drop-offs are sometimes delayed due to unforseen circumstances (breakdown of vehicle, issues at other precincts, etc.). All of the ballots for each precinct are not dropped off right when they open at 7am due to many issues: weight, security, and so forth. Some voters may need to wait in line at their precinct until they can vote. If they cannot wait, they can come back later, or go to another precinct and vote provisionally. Or they can come to City Hall and vote provisionally.

Again, we are not running out of ballots. Every vote will be counted. Every person who has the right to vote and is in line by 8PM will be allowed to cast a ballot.

Hope this puts some of your frayed minds at ease.