Muslims For Kucinich

THE LAST TIME Satch headed out his door to vote, Ronald Reagan already was giving his acceptance speech on TV. Knowing his ballot wouldn't make a lick of difference in the presidential race, Satch just stayed home.

He's not alone. When it comes to Tuesday's election, there's a wave of voter apathy and despair afflicting many residents in Satch's West Oakland neighborhood and throughout Oakland's flatlands.

Several people interviewed said they don't vote because they are struggling to earn a living, disinterested, or just plain don't believe their vote will help them get jobs or health care, or lift them from the hard reality of poverty to a better life.

In the predominately African-American neighborhoods of West Oakland, 28,146 residents -- 61 percent of the adult population -- are registered to vote in Tuesday's election. In the March 2000 presidential primary, only 11,629 of the 26,003 residents registered at that time actually cast ballots, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.

Selecting a new president wasn't the only enticement four years ago. Voters were being wooed by eight different candidates -- someone for everyone, so to speak -- all vying to be District 3's voice in city government.

The story is similar in other areas of Oakland, where many residents feel their interests and agenda have been shut out of the political system.

In Fruitvale District 5, where a large number of residents are not citizens and not eligible to vote, only

43 percent of adults are registered today. The turnout in the March 2000 election was only slightly lower than West Oakland's.

In District 6 near the Coliseum in East Oakland, 59 percent of adults are now registered to vote. In the March 2002 election, only 38.1 percent of registered voters cast ballots, despite a hotly contested race for the council seat.

In District 7 in East Oakland, 56 percent of the adult population is registered. For the March 2000 election, with two candidates running, only 47.6 percent turned out.

The picture is stark when compared with North Oakland, where 83 percent of the district's adult population is registered to vote.

Voter apathy is not unique to Oakland. It is a national dilemma.

Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's presidential campaign gave a much-needed jolt in the arm to the nation's young voters, and many registered Democrats are mobilizing to beat Bush. But that energy hasn't spread throughout all of Oakland's neighborhoods.

"I thought, 'What's the point?' I just don't have any confidence in the system. Period," said Satch, 65, a retired MUNI shop supervisor enjoying a brief spell of sunshine Monday with some buddies at the corner of 16th and Center streets. "Even local officials, they're not doing anything. If they are, I don't see it."

Satch complains plenty about President Bush. But his disgust doesn't propel him to the polling place. Nor does the fact he could help decide whether residents should help pay for more police officers.

"Cops, they come by here at least 60 times a day, telling us to move along," he said. "Guys like me that's retired can't sit up in the house all day. They should be going after bad guys, instead they move the old guys around. I don't think I'll ever vote again."

His friend, Bernard Scoggins, 62, takes the opposite view. He agrees that "politics is all messed up ... with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer," but he still votes in every election. He and his friends often discuss politics, but he doesn't pressure them to vote if they don't want to.

Scoggins thinks if local politicians spent more time visiting the community before they vote to cut programs and services, maybe more people would get involved.

"There's no leaders out here, nobody with a sense of direction," he said.

Historically, West Oakland has been a community willing to mobilize politically, and did so during the days when eminent domain led to the obliteration of several neighborhoods to make way for the Cypress Freeway, a large postal facility and BART.

Councilmember Nancy Nadel (Downtown-West Oakland) said her office did not sponsor a registration drive this election because she is running unopposed and has been too busy with anti-violence Measure R, which she co-authored.

She pointed to West Oakland's high population of renters as contributing to the problem. When people move they often forget to re-register, or don't know where to go and miss deadlines for voting, she said.

She also said many ex-felons don't realize they can register to vote once their parole is over.

Ben Warren, 51, was making his way to a temporary employment agency Friday. "I haven't voted in 20 years," Warren said. "I'm a ex-con. So it (voting) is a burden that's off my shoulders."

In 1993, he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter after he said he was attacked by a knife-wielding man in Oakland. Warren said he served three years, but he also has a criminal record for burglary dating back to his youth.

"I wouldn't vote if I could vote," he said. "Look at the way (President) Bush got in. He didn't win straight up. They put in who they want to put in. The system is run by legal gangsters. It's just all corrupt."

Warren resides in a substance abuse recovery center called Images On the Rise in the 8800 block of International Boulevard. He's been unemployed for two years now.

"On Tuesday, I'll be out looking for a job. My one vote wouldn't make a difference anyway. I'm drug-free and crime-free and I'm saved. I've been called by God to preach."

Words like that don't sit well with Eleanor Lewis, 43, a West Oakland resident who commutes to her job at Bank of America in Concord every day. She said she always votes and has little patience for those who don't.

"I've heard that argument, 'what I do doesn't matter,'" she said. "What happened in Florida (in 2000) doesn't help, but to me, it's not a question of whether I should or I shouldn't. I want what I have to say to count.

"I have a friend who doesn't vote, but I have a lot of friends that do. If you are an African American and you don't vote, somebody should beat you," said Lewis, who is black.

David Shirley is a community activist who knocks on doors and talks to residents every day. He thinks there are many reasons for voter apathy, none of them easy to solve. He doesn't believe it has much to do with the high percentage of renters in West Oakland.

He said it has more to do with illiteracy, violence, the struggle of everyday life and the widely held belief that one vote can't change the system.

Shirley has a long history of voter involvement. In Chicago he worked on get-out-the vote campaigns that garnered 85 to 96 percent voter turnout in black precincts. In the March 2000 election, turnout at some West Oakland precincts was as low as 23 percent, and several precincts failed to lure more than 30 percent.

Despite the odds, Shirley thinks more could be done by setting up tables for voter registration drives around neighborhoods and really talking to people.

"With some assistance, with some encouraging talk, you might convince some ...," he said. "But apathy builds up when people are treated with arrogance, disdain and disrespect."

History has shown activism by individuals and organizations within the community can lead to a surge in voter turnout.

In 1973, 36-year-old Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, got into a runoff with incumbent Mayor John Reading after beating eight others in a primary. Seale lost in the general election but registered enough new black voters to later pave the way for the election of Lionel Wilson, Oakland's first black mayor.

Blacks supported Seale because the Black Panther Party, though criticized by the establishment, had run free breakfast programs, "freedom schools" and community health clinics, and had challenged police abuses -- thereby galvanizing many minority neighborhoods and convincing voters to affect the political process.

Dennis Kucinich, a long shot Democratic presidential candidate in this primary, agreed voters will not turn out in greater numbers until they can elect a person they trust and care about, someone who will tackle the issues facing people day in and day out: jobs, housing, health care.

"For people in impoverished circumstances, those circumstances can be so overwhelming that voting doesn't quickly come to mind," Kucinich said. "Just think if on election day, you are worried about paying the rent, or your rent is a few days late. Or you haven't gotten a check you were expecting and your utility bill is overdue. Or you don't have money to pay for food for your family."

Jimmie Lawson, 57, is a West Oakland renter who has worked for the U.S. Postal Service 36 years. He votes in every election, but he's not sure whether his grown kids vote. He said he "feels very sad" more residents don't get involved and try to change the system.

"I think everybody should vote," he said. "I think it makes a difference."

On a rainy day in the Fruitvale, most people questioned on the street said they would like to vote, but can't, because they lack citizenship or in some cases legal residency.

The number of registered voters reflects that. The largely Latino Fruitvale district has almost 40,000 adults, but only 17,588 -- or 44 percent -- are registered to vote in the next election, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.

During the last district elections, which coincided with the March 2000 presidential primary, 6,405 people made it to the polls.

But some who are working toward citizenship said they will exercise their right as soon as they can.

"It's the most direct way for the people to communicate with their leaders," said Elisa Moreno, a Mexican citizen with legal residency here.

"When I can vote, I'll vote with a conscience," she said in Spanish.

Nancy Rodriguez, owner of Discolandia music and video store on International Boulevard, said she has voted ever since becoming a citizen "many years ago."

"I always vote. It's important for all citizens to vote," Rodriguez said. "I'm going to vote this time because I want Bush out. I'm against the war in Iraq and I want it to end."

Yet, some who have the right to vote said they have become disillusioned and stopped voting. Ana Maria Dominguez, owner of Ana Maria's beauty salon on International Boulevard, admitted she hasn't voted for years.

"I'm kind of disgusted with politics," Dominguez said. "I'm planning to vote this time. We have to make some changes."

Dominguez said she is not sure whether she is registered at her current address, but will try to vote Tuesday. She said the issue of gay marriage, and Bush's proposal for a constitutional amendment banning it, has particularly galvanized her.

"Even though I'm Catholic, I support their right to get married. They have feelings and they love each other and they should have that right," Dominguez said.

Valentino Torres, owner of the Torta Loca sandwich stand on International and a Mexico City native, said he is not a citizen and can't vote. He said his brother will get his citizenship next year, and he hopes to follow him one day.

"It's very important, especially for Latinos," he said.

Torres said he and many other business owners closed down Dec. 12 to participate in the boycott to protest the repeal of the law allowing drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants.

"Most of the business owners aren't citizens and can't vote, so this is the way we can express ourselves," he said.

Many East Oakland residents are so cynical about "the system" they will not be at the polls Tuesday.

"I got other things to do (than vote)," said R.G., who was pushing a shopping cart loaded with cans near Foothill Square Shopping Center.

"I used to vote. But nothing's changed. So why vote again?"

Asked for his name and whether he would permit himself to be photographed by the Tribune, R.G. declined: "Voting is personal, right? You go behind a curtain and do your thing. Not voting is personal, too."

At the corner of 14th and Broadway on Friday morning, two young men were selling The Final Call, the newspaper of the Nation of Islam. They, too, declined to give their names. "We don't vote. We are trying to form our own nation," said one man. "I'm just selling newspapers," said the other man. "Why vote? We are trying to separate."

Registered voters in Oakland:

District 1: 39,933

District 2: 23,406

District 3: 28,146

District 4: 32,581

District 5: 17,588

District 6: 23,584

District 7: 22,245

Total registered: 187,483

Adult population in Oakland: 299,726; 62 percent registered

Population eligible to vote in Alameda County: 969,179

Population registered to vote in Alameda County: 679,145; 70 percent registered