A new wrinkle of uncertainty

Oakland’s special election campaigns, especially for mayor, are looking for every edge, but the registrar is throwing them a curveball; Dems vs Salwan II; Swalwell like to swear

(We had some technical difficulties last night with today’s newsletter. It’s a bit shorter than planned, but that just means get read for a two-coffee morning read on Thursday and Friday. —steve)

OAKLAND SPECIAL ELECTION

13 days to Election Day

ALAMEDA COUNTY REGISTRAR

—DON’T BLAME TIM—The Alameda County Registrar of Voters office is throwing a late-breaking curveball at campaigns in Oakland’s special election.

—An odd-year special election, especially one just over five months after a contentious presidential election cycle almost always equals very low voter turnout.

—The response from the registrar’s office is to update its “voter status” page less frequently than a regular election.

—The feature allows campaigns to know valuable early information about who has already sent in their ballot to the registrar’s office.

—This means the get-out-the-vote campaigns for Oakland mayor, the District 2 city council race, and Measure A, the city’s half-cent sales tax measure, will be hampered by the slow-drip of voter data.

—Vendors that procure and repackage the data for campaigns will also be slowed by the move.

—All three races on the April 15 special election ballot could be close.

—The first data dump by the registrar’s office is scheduled for this evening, but there is no set schedule for future updates.

—Alameda County Registrar Tim Dupuis is in on leave from his duties. His number two is currently at the helm.