I wanted to follow up with clarity about our ballots. I’ve had folks still confused after Councilmember Xouhoa Bowen’s announcement. Folks who attended this week’s candidate forum also did not feel confident with what they were told. So here it is as plainly as I can put it.

If you received a ballot in the mail, your ballot is valid. Fill it out and return it or vote on Election Day.

“But what about the misprint, Gloria?”

Yes, there is a misprint. We should all only see the City Council district we reside in.

If you know your district, you can vote in that election, and that vote will count.

If you don’t know your district and vote in all of them, you are not going to be in trouble. Your ballot won’t be invalidated, and you won’t get to vote extra.

The contested City Council race is in District 3. The County and City are responsible for making sure that only votes from people who live in District 3 are counted in the District 3 race.

"How can you have so much confidence, Gloria, when your hair was on fire the other day?"

I filed a formal complaint with the California Secretary of State's Elections Division. A lovely man named Jeff took all the details of my complaint and said he had enough information to run it up the chain.

I feel a lot better now.

I escalated this matter to the Secretary of State for several reasons. Ultimately, they all came down to the fact that I want the rights of ALL voters and both candidates in the contested district to be protected. I wanted you and me to be able to complete our ballots without a second thought, as is our right.

The City and County are required to make sure only the votes that should be counted in District 3, are counted.

Now they will have the Secretary of State's office poking their head in making sure that’s the case and also asking the appropriate follow up questions. I want someone whose actual job it is to ask all the right questions to know about what's happening.

If you're still confused, my advice is simple: Vote as if you received a properly printed ballot.

Other people are now responsible for making sure the ballots are counted correctly. That’s how it should be.

Are you curious about which district you live in? Find out using the City's district map:

https://sanleandro.maps.arcgis.com/.../weba.../index.html...

I hope that helps clear up the confusion!