21 Oct Nonpartisan Event Reminds Residents ‘Pittsburg Can Vote 2’

By Malcolm Marshall

Pittsburg residents looking to register to vote for the upcoming election or meet and hear from local candidates running for office could do so at the first Pittsburg Can Vote 2 event.

The Concord-based nonprofit Back on Track Community Services partnered with local businesses and community organizations in hosting the voter registration event in Pittsburg on Saturday. Along with getting people registered, the event aimed to educate residents about candidates and issues in the upcoming Nov. 5 general election.

“Last week, we did Antioch Can Vote 2 where I invited all of the political leadership,” said Yvette Williams, founder and executive director of Back on Track. “It was a nonpartisan event. I wanted people to put a face with the name on the ballot. And voter education, that’s it.”

Representatives from The Unity Council, 4 Our Families Contra Costa County, the county probation office, Opportunity Junction, and more had tables featuring pamphlets and other information for those in attendance.

The event, held in the parking lot of Lady J’s restaurant at 2227 Railroad Road Ave., featured appearances by Pittsburg Mayor Juan Banales, Vice Mayor Jelani Killings and City Council Dionne Adams and Shanelle Scales-Preston. Banales and Killings are running to hold onto their council seats. Scales-Preston is running for the county Board of Supervisors.

Williams served as the emcee and did interviews with the candidates.

“I wanted to basically throw a party — which I love throwing parties — have community resources available and people enjoy being educated by our political leadership and finding out things about them that they wouldn’t ordinarily know,” Williams told the Pulse.

One group of voters, in particular, that Williams wants to reach is those who have a criminal record and believe they may not be eligible to vote.

“I ran into a lot of people who told me, ‘I can’t vote because I’m a felon,’ ” she said.

“This is exactly what I told them: You have a felony — you can vote. You have a misdemeanor — you can vote. You’re on probation — you can vote. You’re on parole — you can vote. The only persons currently that cannot vote are persons who are currently incarcerated in a federal or state prison.”

Williams said she went to several barbershops just to get that word out, “and a lot of people were surprised to hear that.”

The California Secretary of State website has more information on its Voting Rights Restored page.

Williams told the Pulse that she first got involved in reentry — the process in which people transition back to their communities after incarceration — in 1998 when she expunged her deceased husband’s record. In 2008, she started Back on Track Expungement Services, then Back on Track Community Services in 2015.

Reimagine Antioch, on hand to do the voter registration, is a campaign of the Safe Return Project, which also addresses issues surrounding reentry and works with people coming back from prison.

“We want to educate people about Proposition 5 and Proposition 36,” said Teki Flow of Reimagine Antioch. “We are also offering information about the California Black Power Network.”

Those who came out were also treated with free food from Lady J’s Soul Food.

The owner of Lady J’s, Jacqueline Williams, said she was happy to be part of something where she can build relationships with the community.

“Today, we are having a voter registration event and also giving food,” she said. “We have free haircuts, free food boxes, and any resources that the community may need.”

Californians can register to vote through 11:59 p.m. Monday. After that, they would need to complete same-day, or conditional, registration. Registered voters have several options to cast their ballots between now and Election Day.

For more information, visit the California Secretary of State’s Where and How to Vote page and Contra Costa County’s Nov. 5, 2024, Presidential General Election page.