Voting Resource Page

Voters in Meadowview Have a New Ballot Box in their Community

(Sacramento, CA) – Today Tecoy Porter College Prep, a Fortune School along with Sequette Clark, mother of Stephon Clark, teamed up with the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters and placed an official ballot box on the school’s property.  The box is part of the Ballot Drop-Box Program implemented in 2010 and is available to any registered voter in Sacramento County 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

“To say this moment is historic would be an understatement,” said Sequette Clark, mother of Stephon Clark, an unarmed Black man with a cell phone killed by the Sacramento police in 2017. in the backyard his grandmother’s Meadowview home.  “We are creating access and removing barriers for people to vote. Although ballot drop boxes have been around for a decade, this is the first one installed in a Meadowview zip code.  I am so excited to have this drop box installed within view of the Stephon Clark playground on the grounds of Tecoy Porter College Prep.  It’s a real tribute to my son’s legacy.  We’re pleased to work with the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters and community groups to make this happen. Our votes count,” said Clark.

“Our doors are open to the community at Tecoy Porter College Prep. When asked if we would house the Ballot Drop Box on our property, there was no hesitation,” said Margaret Fortune the school’s founder and President/CEO of Fortune School, a network of tuition-free public charter schools she founded to close the African American achievement gap in Sacramento.   “Voting is a right bestowed upon every American citizen once they turn 18. We have to fight voter suppression by making voting easy for all Americans. We are proud to partner with Sequette to bring forth her vision of having a ballot box in the Meadowview community,” said Margaret Fortune, CEO, Fortune School.

“Voters can begin using the ballot box today,” said Courtney Bailey, Registrar of Voters. “Sacramento County Department of Voter Registration and Election is and has always been committed to voter rights, access, and equity through voting options. We are proud to partner with Sequette Clark and Tecoy Porter College Prep, a Fortune School to bring the County’s second 24-hour drop-box to life. The first 24-hour drop box is located at the County Election’s office—and like the new box being placed at Tecoy Porter College Prep, it is monitored 24 hours a day and is safe and secure.  We look forward to residents having a local, safe, and secure place to drop off their ballots any time day or night through 8:00 pm on November 3rd.” 

Sequette Clark had a great idea in bringing this ballot drop box to Meadowview, said Dr. Tecoy Porter, civil rights leader, and pastor of Genesis Church which shares the campus, after whom the school is named. “As the chairman of California State National Action Network, we stand with Ms. Clark because NAN works to ensure that every vote in every community across the nation is counted."

Ballots will be picked up personally by an election official and it is a great, no-contact option for voters that do not want to mail their ballot. The new box joins the 58 other drop-boxes throughout the County that are in businesses, grocery stores, and community centers.