DOJ Sends Four Monitor Teams to Alameda County on Election Day

OAKLAND & ALAMEDA, Calif. — Voters across Oakland and Alameda headed to polling centers and drop boxes under rainy skies on Tuesday, November 3, as Alameda County Registrar of Voters Cynthia Cornejo confirmed that 4 federal monitoring teams from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) are observing county voting sites.

Four DOJ Monitoring Teams Observe Alameda County Polls as Oakland and Alameda Vote

As reported by KTVU FOX 2 and Patch Alameda, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division—which has coordinated federal observers since the Voting Rights Act of 1965—deployed approximately 1,000 monitors and observers across all 50 states for the first time on Tuesday, including 4 California counties: Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Diego.

Registrar Cynthia Cornejo told KTVU that 4 DOJ teams are operating countywide in Alameda County, dressed in business casual with identifying badges, and must check in and sign in at each voting center they visit. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon stated that division personnel—joined by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and federal observers from the Office of Personnel Management—are assessing compliance with the Voting Rights Act, National Voter Registration Act, Help America Vote Act, Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, Civil Rights Acts, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), with public hotlines open at 1-800-253-3931 (VEM@usdoj.gov) and 1-800-514-0301 (1-833-610-1264 TTY). According to the California Secretary of State’s office, more than 6 million of the roughly 6.5 million ballots already cast statewide were returned by mail.

Across the county, local voters are deciding key municipal and school contests:

• Oakland Mayor, Council, OUSD & Charter Measures: According to Oakland North, incumbent Mayor Barbara Lee is seeking reelection against 3 challengers (Brenda Grisham, Mindy Pechenuk, and Julius Robinson); Council President Kevin Jenkins faces Nancy Sidebotham in District 6; incumbent Charlene Wang faces Nate Adams in District 2; and 3 Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) board seats are on the ballot—Board President Jennifer Brouhard versus Arielle Fleisher in District 2, 6-year incumbent Mike Hutchinson versus Kathryn Camp in District 4, and Vice President Valerie Bachelor versus LeAna Powell and Alexandra Williams in District 6. Voters are also weighing a strong-mayor city charter amendment (granting the mayor veto power and direct authority over department heads) and an amendment removing the foreclosed-property exception from the property transfer tax to generate $4 million to $13 million annually.
• City of Alameda Vote Centers & Drop Boxes: As detailed by Editor and Publisher Adam Gillitt in the Alameda Post, Alameda voters can cast ballots from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 6 Vote Centers—Independence Plaza (703 Atlantic Avenue), Central Baptist Church (2133 Central Avenue), Bohol Circle Incorporated (1815 Union Street), First Congregational Church of Alameda (1912 Central Avenue), South Shore Center (2202 South Shore Center), and Island High School (500 Pacific Avenue)—or use 3 secure ballot drop boxes at City Hall (2263 Santa Clara Avenue), Bay Farm Island Library (2331 Mecartney Road), and College of Alameda (555 Ralph Appezzato Memorial Parkway).

OUSD Reviews State FCMAT Analysis After Exiting 22 Years of State Control

According to the Post News Group, the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) released a Fiscal Health Risk Analysis rating OUSD at "high" risk for fiscal insolvency based on its 2025-26 Second Interim Report data as of January 31, following an April "Notice of Going Concern" from the Alameda County Superintendent of Schools. FCMAT rated 11 other California districts—including Pleasanton, Antioch, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Burbank, Saddleback Valley, Petaluma, San Ysidro, Rincon Valley Union, Santa Rosa, and Pacifica (12 districts total including Oakland, ranging down to a 2,600-student elementary district)—as high risk this year.

However, in a September 15 letter conditionally approving OUSD’s 2026-27 budget (adopted by the board in June), the Alameda County Office of Education called the filing "a materially stronger submission than the district has filed in recent years." Superintendent Dr. Denise Saddler pledged to address FCMAT’s findings as the district—which recently exited 22 years of state control and opened the school year with a teacher in every classroom—debates budget reductions (including $30 million in planned adjustments highlighted by Oakland Parents for Quality Education co-founder Edmund Chun and County Superintendent Alysse Castro, alongside commentary by Dr. Kitty Kelly Epstein and Dr. Kimberly Mayfield noting 2023 to 2026 California School Dashboard gains and former Marin City trustee Alena Maunder’s 2020 to 2024 board service and 20+ years of nursing experience).

Urban Compassion Project Serves 750 at Free Downtown Store; AC Transit Detours Lines 35 and 97

In downtown Oakland, KTVU FOX 2 reported that the Urban Compassion Project—led by Executive Director Supriya Golas and supported by 5,000 volunteers who have cleared roughly 1.7 million pounds of illegally dumped trash across Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, Vallejo, San Francisco, and San Jose since 2021—has served some 750 people across nearly 10 pop-up events since August at Compassion Threads, a free clothing store in a formerly vacant storefront at 1420 Broadway. Seeded with more than 20,000 pieces of excess athlete and celebrity streetwear donated by partner Jeremy Castro (and supported by a clothing drive at The Wardrobe Project on College Avenue), the store opens Wednesdays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. (including November 4 and November 11) by 15-minute appointment, allowing visitors to select up to 5 brand-new or like-new items while connecting with Bay Area Community Services (BACS) in the back room for housing and mental health support.

Meanwhile, AC Transit announced an immediate service alert on November 3 closing Hesperian Blvd. stops on Lines 35 and 97 due to non-AC Transit construction: towards Bay Fair BART, stops at Hesperian Blvd. at Drew St. (Stop ID 53260) and Thornally Dr. (Stop ID 58761) are closed (with riders directed to Springlake Dr. at Stop ID 52098 or Bay Fair BART at Stop ID 53520 for Line 35 and Stop ID 53332 for Line 97), while towards Foothill Square (Line 35) and Union City BART (Line 97), Hesperian Blvd. at Drew St. (Stop ID 52104) is closed (with alternatives at Thornally Dr. Stop ID 57272 and Springlake Dr. Stop ID 50524).