Before the Santa Ana City Council called a special meeting Monday night, Oct. 30, to discuss the recall election underway, there was a flurry of correspondence between city and county officials questioning how to proceed.
Councilmember Jessie Lopez is the focus of a recall effort that is now asking voters whether she should be removed from the Ward 3 seat she was elected to in 2020, which covers the north and northeastern parts of the city. The boundaries of that district were changed in 2022 based on the latest U.S. Census.
Monday night, the City Council deadlocked on whether voting should be canceled based on questions raised by county Registrar of Voters Bob Page about which map of the ward, 2020 or 2022, should have been applied to the recall. The 2022 map had been used in verification of the signatures and in mailing out ballots last month in the special election called for Nov. 14.
“The determination as to whether that means the petition was sufficient or insufficient, must be made by the city clerk. And, to call off the election, the City Council would have to rescind its resolution ordering the election,” Page said in an email Thursday. “As the city has done neither of those steps, the registrar of voters is continuing to conduct the election with vote centers opening this Saturday.”
On Oct. 26, Page sent a letter to City Clerk Jennifer Hall questioning which map should have been used, the one Lopez was elected under or the current configuration. He said a similar question raised in another county in the state prompted his question.
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; if the map was applied to verifying the signatures that were collected, the recall effort would have failed. It would also affect whether some voters got ballots, he said in his letter, asking the city to give him direction.
In response, City Attorney Sonia Carvalho wrote on Oct. 27 that her office was “distressed” by the registrar of voter’s lack of communication and asked twice whether Page would be rescinding his office’s verification of the signature petition certificate. Page provided correspondences between the city and county.
“The city should not be left alone in deciding how to proceed, based on the error, regardless of who is responsible for it,” Carvalho said. “Our question back to you is, would you proceed with conducting the election knowing what you now know about there being insufficient signatures to qualify the recall in the first place, assuming you used the wrong map?”
In an Oct. 30 letter back, County Counsel Leon Page said, “You twice request on behalf of the city that the registrar rescind his certificate” and also that “we read your letter as a modification of the city’s request” from June setting the required number of signatures to qualify since the 2020 map had more registered voters.
The county counsel reiterated in his correspondence that while the registrar is providing election services, the county is not able to decide what happens with the Nov. 14 election. Previously, Bob Page said the city clerk is the elections official for municipal elections – the Registrar of Voters is simply contracted by the city to provide election services – and that was why he was seeking direction from the city.
Laura Rossini, Santa Ana’s chief assistant city attorney, responded that same afternoon with an email to the county counsel office that the city “never asked or directed” the registrar to rescind his original certificate and requested it be corrected.
An hour later, the council met and was divided 3-3 on what to do. Councilmembers Johnathan Hernandez Thai Viet Phan and Benjamin Vazquez voted to stop the recall, saying continuing the special election would mean breaking the law. Mayor Amezcua, along with councilmembers Phil Bacerra and David Penaloza voted against canceling the election, with Penaloza arguing it was decision that should be left to a court.
Lopez could not be reached for comment, but previously said she and her team are looking into all legal options moving forward. As of Thursday afternoon no court filings appeared to have been submitted.
Ballots were mailed out to registered voters in the new 2022 version of Ward 3 in mid-Oct. Voting centers are set to open from Nov. 4 to 14. More information on the recall election can be found at santa-ana.org/elections.
