OC Registrar of Voters Bob Page said he needs the city of Santa Ana to tell him what to do about a recall election already underway.
Councilmember Jessie Lopez was elected to Santa Ana’s Ward 3, in the north and northeastern part of the city, in 2020. In 2022, the boundaries of that ward were changed based on updated demographics from the latest U.S. Census. Now, questions are being raised about which map should be used when counting the signatures on the petition that forced a special election asking whether Lopez should be removed from the council.
Ballots have already been mailed out and voting is set to end Nov. 14.
In an Oct. 26 letter addressed to City Clerk Jennifer Hall, Page said the 2020 map of Ward 3 has more registered voters in its boundaries and would have required recall petitioners to collect more signatures to force the election. A couple of neighborhoods were taken out of the ward in 2022, so some collected signatures would not be valid under the 2020 version.
Also, Page pointed out ballots were mailed out using the 2022 version of the ward and about 1,186 people who voted in the ward in 2020 when Lopez was elected did not receive ballots and 357 voters who are new to the ward did.
“This difference between the old and current Ward 3 boundaries would have impacted whether the recall petition had sufficient valid signatures and who can validly vote in the recall election,” Page wrote in his letter.
The county office needs instruction from the city because in state law, Page said in response to questions, the city clerk is the elections official for municipal elections – the Registrar of Voters is simply contracted by the city to provide election services.
After receiving an email from the Kings County Registrar of Voters asking other county elections officials in the state for advice regarding a recall effort that involved officials elected before and after redistricting, Page said he re-examined his office’s own review and administering of the Santa Ana recall.
In his letter to the city, he said given state election laws for when new district maps are to be applied, “it appears that the old Ward 3 map boundaries should have applied.”
Tim Rush, chair of the recall campaign against Lopez, said he doesn’t agree with Page’s interpretation and that it’s too late to raise concerns.
“What kind of municipal chaos would ensue if we as the recall committee can’t rely upon what we’re told and given instruction in writing from the elections official who is the city clerk in the city of Santa Ana,” Rush said. “How are we supposed to operate when here we are halfway through, ballots have been sent out. People are collecting ballots. People are mailing them in. And now you raise your hand and say, ‘Oh, I think there was a mistake.’”
City spokesperson Paul Eakins said City Attorney Sonia Carvalho is reviewing “all legal options.”
Lopez is calling for the City Council to immediately hold a special meeting to call off the recall.
“Voters in Ward 3 are being disenfranchised,” Lopez said. “The most pressing issue here is that more than 1,000 of our American residents in our district have had their right to vote removed from this process. There is no possible way that this recall can move forward. There is no fair or reasonable cure for the irreparable harm caused by excluding the actual voters of the pre-redistricting map.”
If the recall election is canceled, it is unknown whether or not the Registrar of Voters would have to reimburse the city for recall-related costs. Page said, “We are still working toward a resolution at this time with the city regarding this matter.”
