By The Vanguard Staff
OAKLAND, CA – Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price will be the subject of a recall election, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters, who confirmed Monday the campaign to recall Price had submitted enough valid signatures.
“Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price was in office less than six months before the recall campaign was launched against her,” said KQED in its reporting.
Save Alameda For Everyone/SAFE turned in 123,374 signatures in support of the recall to the registrar’s office March 4 after beginning the campaign less than six months after Price took office, and claims the progressive reforms Price is carrying out are decreasing public safety, said KQED.
But Price supporters charge reforms are “essential to creating a more fair justice system, and argue increases in crime are more directly linked to underlying social conditions, like poverty and mental health,” noted KQED.
Price, a former civil rights attorney, won with 53 percent of the vote in 2022, promising to reduce mass incarceration, lighten sentences for accused under age 25 and hold police accountable for misconduct. Price, according to the SF Chronicle, “drew opposition from prosecutors and community members who view her policies as too lenient.”
“Today marks a historic moment for our community,” said Brenda Grisham, an organizer with Save Alameda For Everyone, one of two groups behind the recall effort. “The resounding support for this recall petition sends a clear message that the people of Alameda County demand accountability and ethical leadership from their elected officials.”
According to the registrar, 74,757 signatures met the validation requirements – about 49,000 were invalid – with 73,195 needed to validate the recall election, that will be called by the county board of supervisors.
KQED said, “The results come after the registrar decided in March to complete a manual review of the signatures after a sample review did not conclusively find that the collected signatures met the required amount to qualify.”
The Board of Supervisors must decide an election date within 14 days of the registrar completing its count. If the supervisors fail to select a date, county election officials will then have five days to choose.
Recall supporters said on “X” they want an election soon, but KQED said, “Recall opponents have said they would prefer a recall election to occur in November, citing experts who say general elections tend to draw a larger turnout and produce more progressive results.”
State rules note elections could be held 180 days in the future if it can be consolidated with a regularly scheduled election. A special election could cost around $20 million, said the county.
KQED reported, “Short of suing the county and delaying the election scheduling with a protracted court battle, a Price recall election that coincides with November’s presidential election is unlikely.”
“Joshua Spivak, a recall expert and senior research fellow at the California Constitution Center at Berkeley Law, said the conventional wisdom about higher turnout in general elections may not apply to recalls. He pointed to the recalls of three state governors — Gavin Newsom and Gray Davis in California, Scott Walker in Wisconsin — all saw greater turnout in the special elections,” KQED reported.
Spivak also told KQED, “The challenge is getting to the ballot. If they get to the ballot, about 61 percent of recalls nationwide result in removal, and another six percent result in resignation,” he added.
