The special election considering the recall of Santa Ana Councilmember Jessie Lopez will continue after the City Council deadlocked Monday night on whether questions raised by the county registrar of voters should cancel voting.
Lopez was elected to Santa Ana’s Ward 3, in the north and northeastern part of the city, in 2020. The boundaries of that ward were changed in 2022 based on the latest U.S. Census.
In an Oct. 26 letter addressed to City Clerk Jennifer Hall, Registrar of Voters Bob Page questioned which map should have been used when counting the signatures on the petition that forced the special election asking whether Lopez should be removed from the council. It would also affect whether some voters got ballots, he said.
In his letter, Page asked the city to give him direction. Voting is already underway and the election ends Nov. 14.
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.
The City Council discussed two options during Monday night’s special meeting – one was to call off the recall election and the other was to do nothing. Both motions failed for lack of majority support.
Councilmember Johnathan Hernandez, who voted to stop the recall along with councilmembers Thai Viet Phan and Benjamin Vazquez, said continuing the special election would mean breaking the law.
“To sit here and debate this today calls into question the ethics of some of my colleagues who took an oath to serve the residents of Santa Ana,” Hernandez said. “A vote against rescinding this recall is a vote in favor of corruption. It is a vote in favor of a city hall where corrupt politicians run your city.”
Hernandez also disclosed on the dias that City Attorney Sonia Carvalho’s professional opinion was that City Hall is “legally and ethically required” to rescind the certificate of sufficiency of the recall. The council was then reminded by Carvalho not to discuss closed session conversations.
Councilmember David Penaloza said because of “complex legal opinions” it was best for the city to take no action. It would be best, Penaloza added, for a court to decide the merit of the election. His motion was supported by Mayor Valerie Amezcua and Councilmember Phil Bacerra.
“My position is the city of Santa Ana should not take responsibility for the Registrar of Voters’ errors,” Bacerra said.
Page said in an email Tuesday that the 2022 map was used before his office was asked to validate the signatures.
Previously 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. Page said Tuesday the Registrar of Voters will continue to conduct the recall election using the current map of Ward 3 until his office receives different directions from the city.
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 the Santa Ana recall.
“My priority is to work with the city and city clerk to ensure that the voices of the voters in Ward 3 are heard. That includes properly examining the recall petition and providing access to vote in the election,” Page said. “Last week I determined that the current map of Ward 3 was used by the proponents, City Clerk and Registrar of Voters for the recall petition and election and then evaluated the potential impact of switching to the 2020 map of Ward 3.”
Lopez said she is not surprised by the council’s 3-3 deadlock, but she is disappointed.
“I know that it’s been a very tough 11 months when you have members up with the dais always yelling from the rooftops to follow the law, and here they are choosing to break the law because it benefits their campaign pockets,” Lopez said when reached Tuesday. “The people, the voters in the city are being disenfranchised. Never once did they put their constituents in the center of that decision-making process. They violated their own code of ethics last night.”
Lopez said she and her team are looking into all legal options moving forward, but did not give specifics.
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. 4-14.
More information on the recall election can be found at santa-ana.org/elections.
