Voting last minute in the election? Here’s what to know
LAT's STAFF: "California voters are hitting the polls for the 2024 presidential election, but there are a number of consequential races on the statewide and local levels as well. Here’s what to know:
Based on polling, there are some likely outcomes for election day 2024 in California:"
Vote-counting rules in battleground states complicate when a winner is likely to be named
LAT's SEEMA MEHTA: "Unless polling that portends a paper-thin margin between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump is completely wrong — a possibility because of dizzying changes in how voters cast ballots as well as a pandemic-prompted overhaul of election laws — Americans should plan on going to bed Tuesday night without knowing who won the White House.
Election experts argue that a delay in knowing the result, in part because of the patchwork of rules that dictate how votes are counted, notably in battleground states, is proof of ballot-counters’ vigilance about accurately tabulating the vote. But they also worry that any delay will feed the growing skepticism many Americans have about the sanctity of the nation’s electoral process."
Donald Trump’s Support From Black Voters Plunges, New Poll Shows
Newsweek's NATALIE VENEGAS: "Former President Donald Trump is seeing support from Black voters decrease just days before Election Day, a poll published on Sunday shows.
According to the final national NBC News poll of the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, is only earning 9 percent of Black support, lower than the 12 percent he received during the 2020 presidential election when he ran against Joe Biden."
Last-minute guide: L.A. voters could dramatically reshape government. What to know
LAT's STAFF: "Los Angeles voters won’t just be electing officials in November.
There are several measure on local ballots that would bring sweeping changes to the nature of government."
Why California’s vote count will take days
CALMatters's LYNN LA: "There are only two more days to vote in California, and more than 7.6 million Californians have cast their ballots. But the counting will last for days, if not weeks, before news outlets declare all the winners or candidates concede.
The delays and uncertainty — which have grown since California started sending mail ballots to all voters — can sow doubts or even conspiracy theories. So state and local election officials are trying to reassure voters that their ballots are safe against cyber and other attacks and will be counted."
In Northern California, here’s what we will — and won’t —know on election night
Sacramento Bee's JENAVIEVE HATCH: "Election officials in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and Yolo counties will tabulate hundreds of thousands of California ballots starting Tuesday night in what looks like a too-close-to-call election — one that will result in either the return of Donald Trump as President of the United States, or usher in Vice President Kamala Harris as the first woman president in American history.
But tabulating that many ballots — and doing so accurately — is no instantaneous feat."
This S.F. police district has the highest ratio of violent crime to officers
The Chronicle's DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA: "Though the San Francisco Police Department’s Mission station is one of the most highly staffed of the 10 police districts, the area still has the highest rate of violent crimes per officer, a Chronicle analysis found.
The Mission police district, which encompasses a wide swath of the center of the city, including the Mission, Castro and Noe Valley neighborhoods, had 116 officers assigned to it as of January this year, according to SFPD. Between January and September this year, it had a total of 623 reported violent crimes, which is about 5.4 violent crimes per officer."
Election workers quit in Shasta as self-appointed observers roam office
CALMatters's SERGIO OLMOS: "On Wednesday, as the workers of the Shasta County Registrar of Voters office busily sifted through the ballots that have already been cast, they had company.
A group of nine people, holding clipboards and taking notes, stood in a hallway peering through wired glass as workers took ballots out of envelopes. Across the hallway another group of observers hovered over computer screens, watching a live video feed of workers in a room verifying signatures. These self-appointed election observers spent their day looking for proof of tomfoolery."
S.F. neighborhoods are grouped into five voting ‘clusters.’ Which one are you in?
The Chronicle's ASEEM SHUKLA, ALDO TOLEDO, HARSHA DEVULAPALLI: "San Francisco’s political class often likes to put voters in one of two camps that have long defined the city’s politics.
But a Chronicle analysis shows that the city’s political factions cannot be reduced simply to moderate or progressive."
The Micheli Minute for November 4, 2024
Capitol Weekly's STAFF: "Lobbyist and McGeorge law professor Chris Micheli offers a quick look at what’s coming up this week under the Capitol Dome."
Big spenders: These companies are giving the most to California legislative candidates
CALMatters's JEREMIA KIMELMAN: "Nearly $100 million has been spent this year by corporate- and labor-funded committees in California legislative races, including more than $42 million in just the last month.
These independent expenditure committees are becoming a bigger financial force in legislative campaigns across the state: Since Sept. 1, they have invested $51.5 million. That’s 29% more than over the same period in 2022, when the $40 million spent was 25% more than in 2020 and nearly twice as much as 2018."
Culture wars start to roil elections for California’s community college trustees
CALMatters's ADAM ECHELMAN, ERICA YEE: "Elections for community college board seats rarely make the spotlight in California. After voting for candidates for president, U.S. Congress, and the state Legislature, many voters skip the community college races altogether.
In Southern California, culture wars are starting to influence some of those races on this year’s ballot — and fueling hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations. Debates over issues such as the display of pride flags also reflect tensions across many of California’s K-12 school districts, where similar topics have sparked hours-long public meetings, lawsuits, and a new wave of political action and election spending at the local level."
How California teachers have navigated a contentious presidential election
EdSource's JOHN FENSTERWALD: "In the months preceding this week’s election, some California history and social studies teachers have proceeded cautiously in covering the presidential campaign, while others have embraced the opportunity confidently and comprehensively. But most included instruction about the presidential election in their courses, according to responses to an EdSource survey of California history and social science teachers.
Their responses underscore that most teachers understood the potential pitfalls of teaching politics in polarized times, compounded by a contagion of misinformation on social media. (Go here to read the questionnaire.)"
PG&E warns of power shut-offs this week. These Bay Area counties may be affected
The Chronicle's ANTHONY EDWARDS: "Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is warning of an elevated risk of power shut-offs across the Bay Area and Northern California from Tuesday through Thursday amid a “strong Diablo wind event” that will elevate the wildfire risk.
Northerly to easterly winds are expected to pick up Tuesday afternoon, peak Wednesday and then gradually weaken throughout the day Thursday. Gusts could exceed 50 mph in the higher terrain of the North Bay and East Bay and 70 mph atop Mount Saint Helena and Mount Diablo. Even higher speeds are possible in the Sierra Nevada foothills."
California fire weather warning: Strongest offshore wind event in years is on way
The Chronicle's ANTHONY EDWARDS: "The strongest offshore wind event in several years is expected across California this week, commonly referred to as Santa Ana, Diablo, Mono and Sundowner winds throughout the state.
Breezy conditions in Northern California and a stiff gale in the Southern California mountains Sunday were just a precursor to the event expected this week. Gusts in the San Gabriel Mountains, in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, could reach 80 mph Wednesday into Thursday. Similarly strong gusts are possible in the Sierra Nevada and highest elevations of the Bay Area."
This California wine company sparked obsessive fandom. Then its S.F. founder ‘vanished’
The Chronicle's ESTHER MOBLEY: "When the wine company De Negoce appeared in 2020, it set off a peculiar frenzy.
The pitch was irresistible: $100 Napa Cabernet discounted to as little as $10. The catch was that you had to buy at least a case, as futures — committing before the wines were actually bottled — and you’d never learn the name of the winery that made it."
Which L.A. neighborhoods have paid the most ‘mansion tax’?
LAT's JACK FLEMMING: "Los Angeles is roughly a year and a half into its so-called “mansion tax,” levying charges on high-end property sales to raise money for affordable housing and homelessness initiatives.
Measure ULA charges a 4% fee on all property sales above $5.1 million and a 5.5% fee on all sales above $10.3 million. Now, thanks to a new dashboard, Angelenos can see exactly where and how that money is being raised."
Quincy Jones, legendary composer who shaped Michael Jackson’s solo career, has died
LAT's STEVE MARBLE: "Quincy Jones, who expanded the American songbook as a musician, composer and producer and shaped some of the biggest stars and most memorable songs in the second half of the 20th century, has died at his home in Bel-Air.
Widely considered one of the most influential forces in modern American music, Jones died Sunday surrounded by his children, siblings and close family, according to his publicist Arnold Robinson. He was 91. No cause of death was disclosed."
