Price of election integrity

Yet another recall is afoot. Three actually. And they're at the county level

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price last month in San Leandro.

COUNTY NEWS

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

—PROTECT THE WIN, STOP THE STEAL—If the recall against Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price qualifies for either the Mar. 5 primary or a special election next spring, the stage may be set for the issue to appear in court.

—On Tuesday, supporters of the Price recall reiterated they intend to submit signed petitions to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters well before the Mar. 5 deadline (possibly at the beginning of February, they said), meaning any changes to the charter potentially approved by voters will be avoided.

—The Alameda County Charter, as currently written, includes an unconstitutional provision that states legal recall signature gatherers must be residents of the county.

—The provision is one of several that proponents of the charter amendment ballot measure say needs to be changed.

—But Price’s campaign has repeatedly used the unconstitutional provision to foment outrage among her supporters.

—The recall campaign has been very transparent about its use of paid signature-gatherers, which has helped bolster Price’s suggestion that recall supporters are acting improperly.

—Price raised the issue at an appearance last September at the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, and emails from “Protect the Win,” the campaign opposing the recall, routinely reference the recall effort’s use of paid signature-gatherers as violating the county charter.

—“The stakes are even higher now because the election deniers have show that they will do everything in their power to stop our county from holding a fair election,” said a Protect the Win fundraising email sent last week.

—“For weeks, they have been breaking the rules of the Alameda County Charter,” they continued. Included is a claim by Protect the Win that signature gatherers are telling voters to lie about their occupation.

—Alameda County Counsel Donna Ziegler told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that any complaint against the recall pertaining to the current charter would need to be filed by an outside party, not the county.

—Price or a group opposing the recall could file a complaint down the road, but the unconstitutionality of the recall provision in the county charter appears clearly determined by the courts.

—Such a claim of impropriety would likely only fuel anger among Price’s supporters, and sow doubt about the integrity of the special election, and possibly, future elections.

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