Oakland NAACP say they support recount of mayoral election

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Oakland chapter of the NAACP announced they support community calls for a recount in the mayoral election. 

In a statement on Tuesday, Oakland NAACP said many seniors have expressed their confusion surrounding ranked-choice voting and lack of voter education in the Nov. 8 election that saw Sheng Thao defeat her opponent, Councilman Loren Taylor, by 682 votes. Thao had a 50.3% win over Taylor's 49.7%. 

The Oakland NAACP partly blames the County Registrar's office for the confusion. 

Elaborating on this confusion, the organization said, "Many of them have also expressed concern that in the case of a very close election, even in the event of a difference of very few votes, that there is no automatic recount under any circumstance in Alameda County. They were also discouraged by the fact that the cost is likely to be well over $100,000 for an individual or community led recount process according to Alameda County officials." 

In the weeks following the election, Taylor in his concession to Thao, said he would not lead a recount effort, but that he wouldn't stand in the way of others funding such an effort. 

The nation's oldest civil rights organization did not indicate in their statement if they would be funding a recount effort on behalf of Taylor. They did say they wanted to work to ensure that everyone's vote is counted. They claimed 3,000 votes were considered ‘overvotes’ and not counted. They also take issue with 5,000 Oakland ballots that failed to make a selection for mayor. However, you are not required to make a selection and do not have to vote on every issue and race in the election. NAACP Oakland also said some 11,000 votes were exhausted when voters failed to rank additional candidates. Similarly, you are not required to rank additional candidates and are allowed to only select one if you want. 

SEE ALSO: Sheng Thao becomes Oakland mayor after Loren Taylor concedes

Thao was the more progressive of the two candidates, garnering endorsements from several labor unions, and is the first Hmong woman to be elected mayor of Oakland. 

MORE: Sheng Thao says public safety a top priority when sworn in as Oakland mayor

Correction: An earlier version of this story misreported a recount as a recall within the article and in the headline. A correction has been made. We regret the error.