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By Post News Group
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors is considering placing a measure on the ballot next year that would overhaul the procedures for how the county conducts recall elections.
The impact of the passage of this measure on the current well-funded attempt to unseat Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price is uncertain at present.
The final decision on whether to place the measure on the ballot, which the board recently approved unanimously at a first reading, was postponed at this week’s meeting to the Nov. 14 board meeting.
According to County Counsel Donna Ziegler, the county’s current rules are outdated and include unconstitutional provisions, lack necessary procedures, and follow unfeasible election law.
“In order to provide the public and the Registrar of Voters with clear and achievable standards for conducting a recall, it is recommended that your board adopt an ordinance to amend the charter,” Ziegler wrote in a report to the board.
Ziegler’s report said the changes are necessary to align county laws with the state’s and eliminate “decades-old procedures (that are) a detriment to ensuring lawful, competent, and timely recalls.”
If passed, the measure would appear on the March 2024 ballot for voters to decide.
The measures would replace current procedures for conducting recall elections with the wording: “California state law applicable to the recall of county officers shall govern the recall of County of Alameda elected and appointed officers.”
Alameda County is the only county in California whose charter “deviates from” and “is at odds with” the state’s recall laws, wrote the Alameda County Registrar of Voters, according to a KQED interview.
Supervisor Nate Miley told KQED he did not think that the change would impact the recall campaign against Price.
“It’s just a matter of impracticality in the charter, the way the charter outlines it,” Miley said. “It would be almost an impracticality to put it on a March 5 election. There may be a special election, maybe, but I’m not even sure that will be the case if we’re aligning with a state law.”
The change in recall procedures could potentially increase the number of signatures needed to put a recall on the ballot, which could raise the cost of signature gathering by as much as $200,000.
At present, county rules require a recall campaign to submit about 73,000 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. Under state guidelines, about 93,000 signatures would be needed.
State law would also provide election officials more time to count signatures and arrange an election, could potentially postpone a special recall election to coincide with a regularly scheduled election, such as the next presidential election.
Such a change could shift the voting electorate in a more liberal direction, which would mean more supporters of DA Price’s reform criminal justice agenda might be likely to vote.
