On Tuesday, Nov. 15, the city of Oakland will hold a special vote by mail election.

There will be no polling places, so registered voters must sign the back of the Vote by Mail return envelope once they received their ballot in the mail. If the back of the envelope is not signed, then your vote will not count. No postage is required to mail the ballot. 

"Typically for a mail-in election, the projected number of voters is somewhere in the 35 percent range," Dave Macdonald, spokesman for the Alameda County Registrar of Voters said. "It is hard to tell and always is dangerous to predict, but people have already started receiving their ballots in the mail. It has been a little slow."

Ballots began being mailed to residents of Oakland in mid-October; and the last day to register to vote for the special election was Oct. 31. According to Macdonald, voted ballots must be received by the Registrar of Voters Office no later than 8 p.m. on Election Day.

"Despite there not being much interest for this election, there are some very important issues on this ballot," Mcdonald said. "The only way things change, is if you register and vote. It is no different this year.

"A very small group of people get to decide the future of the city when people don't vote," he added. "So everyone needs to register and vote."

There are three measures to be considered on the Nov. 15 ballot. Two of the three measures address Oakland's current fiscal crisis. Measure H looks at whether or not, the Oakland City Charter should be amended to return the position of City Attorney to an appointed position. As it is now, the City Attorney is elected by popular vote every four years. If the measure passes, voters would no longer select who the City Attorney is, but instead, the City Attorney will be appointed by the City Council.

"Voters should care about every single election," Katherine Gavzy, the president of the League of Women Voters of Oakland, said. "The issues on the ballot will affect the lives of every single resident of Oakland directly. Their lives will be impacted immediately. That's why they should care."

Gavzy said she doesn't know exactly how many people will vote, but expects fewer voters than the 2008 presidential election.

"Normally in an election like this (local), there is usually a much smaller turnout," she said. "It's hard to tell, but the measures have a lot to do with the financial and economic problems of the city; so there should be plenty of interest."

The other two measures deal with a five-year $80 parcel tax and Oakland's Police and Fire Retirement Plan. Measure I needs 66 percent of total votes cast to pass and determines if home owners will pay an $80 parcel tax to restore city services like police, library and parks and recreation programs. Measure J will decide if the current deadline for the city of Oakland to contribute to police and fire pensions - July 1, 2026 - should be pushed back to a later date.

Although the Nov. 15 election may not be an exciting one, it is still important to many; especially considering that the city has alarming unemployment and homicide rates.

"This upcoming election provides a lot of insight into making an impact in the policies and the different ways of governing at the local level," Jessamyn Sabbag, the field director for Oakland Rising, said. "How our city government is spending our money and generating revenue should be of importance and be a priority, because Oakland does have a large deficit looming next year."