Our image of California’s East Bay area tends to be one of idyllic eco-hippie-gluten-free-crunchy-urban-farm magic. But that wasn’t the scene at polling sites in Berkeley and Oakland today, where I talked to voters about how much environmental concerns are impacting their electoral choices today.

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Some voters were more fired up by food issues, in the form of California’s Proposition 37, aimed at labeling GMO foods.

I spotted this guy several times throughout the afternoon.

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One of the few eco-interested voters I met (near a median green space all cluttered with signs advertising Sierra Club endorsements) seemed pretty pessimistic about most everything, though.

 

But then there was Dan.

 

And this family.

Voter turnout was low across the Bay Area on this sunny, 80 degree November day. Maybe electoral politics just aren’t our strong suit here. Maybe everyone was out on their bikes, or working in their gardens.