With Nov. 5 election approaching, use official information on candidates, measures

City elections page offers campaign finance reports, candidate statements, and complete ballot information on Berkeley measures. You can also use a nonpartisan source to find information about statewide candidates and propositions.

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Learn how to find official information about the local November 5 races and measures as well as Ranked Choice Voting, which could be used in several city races if there is no outright winner.

Use the City website to find campaign finance reports, candidate statements, and information on Berkeley measures. You can also use the nonpartisan website Vote 411 to find information about statewide candidates and propositions.

Make sure to check your voter registration status by October 21 to receive your vote-by-mail ballot. Berkeley youth 16-17 can also register to vote for their School Board.

As ballots are mailed out this week, the combination of city and statewide information can help you get the official version of election materials and better prepare to vote.

To see official public information about elections, use berkeleyca.gov/elections and Vote411.org.

Use City election page for local information

There are several measures and candidate elections on the Berkeley ballot:

• twelve Berkeley-specific ballot measures
• Mayor
• four City Council seats
• two School Board seats
• four Rent Stabilization Board seats

Visit the City's elections page to review campaign finance reports and candidate statements as well as complete ballot measure information on the twelve Berkeley measures.

For national, state, and county candidates or propositions, you can use the non-partisan website Vote 411.

Ranked Choice Voting used for certain election races

The Council and Mayor races will use "ranked choice voting," which allows voters to mark their first through fifth choice candidates in order of preference and avoids a runoff election.

Ranking your order of preference for candidates allows you to weigh in on candidates, even as your most preferred candidates might get eliminated.

If a candidate gets a majority of first place votes, they win. However, if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of first place votes, the ranked choice process determines the winner. In each round, the lowest vote getter is eliminated, and their votes are re-distributed:

1. The candidate with the fewest first place votes is eliminated.
2. Voters who selected the eliminated last place candidate have their votes transferred to their second choice.
3. Votes are re-counted to see if there is a candidate with more than 50 percent of the vote.
4. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent, the process of eliminating the last place candidate and transferring votes is repeated until a majority winner is declared.

Ranked Choice Voting is sometimes called "instant run-off voting" but that does not mean the election is decided on Election night. All ballots are processed and counted before a race is decided.

With the election less than a month away, use these berkeleyca.gov/elections and vote411.org to find your official information.

Links

• City of Berkeley Elections Page
• Ranked Choice Voting (Alameda County Registrar of Voters)
• Vote 411 (non-partisan statewide information)
• Register by October 21 to vote in the November 5 election (City of Berkeley)
• Youth Voting Information (Berkeley Unified School District)