Alameda County supervisors certify Pamela Price recall signatures, push effort forward

(KRON) — The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday that sufficient legitimate signatures to recall District Attorney Pamela Price have been collected. Supervisors will meet on May 14 to set a date for a recall election.

On April 15, the Alameda County Registrar of Voters (ROV) claimed it had collected enough valid signatures from voters who wanted to recall Price. Price had alleged signature fraud in the recall effort. On Tuesday, the board of supervisors determined that the necessary amount of valid signatures was collected.

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The vote to certify the signatures was completed at 5:50 p.m. after nearly three hours of public comment.

The necessary number of signatures for the effort to continue was 73,195. Per the ROV, the petition had 123,374 signatures, and 74,757 were determined to be valid.

A special election, which in this case will determine whether Price will keep her DA role, can be set 88-125 days in the future. The recall can also take place during the Nov. 5 general election, which would save the county money.

A group called Save Alameda For Everyone (SAFE) organized the recall effort. The group, made up of a collection of residents and business owners in the county, has accused Price of not holding perpetrators accountable.

Price claimed that signature petitions were left unattended on tables and some signature gatherers were from outside the county or state. Jim Sutton, who is the attorney for Price’s campaign, also said the recall is illegal because the county did not verify the signatures in time. One supervisor said Tuesday that they hope a lawsuit is filed, so a court can rule on whether that is true.

If Price is voted out, the board of supervisors will appoint a new DA to take over.

Price issued the following statement after the news:

“My opponents are leading an undemocratic and unfair effort that lacks transparency. Any effort to overturn the fair election should be assessed critically to ensure that it reflects the genuine will of the people rather than being influenced by the undue financial influence of a select few. The most unfortunate part is the citizens of Alameda County will be impacted by these actions. Today‘s vote attempts to thwart their right to have who they duly elected in office. Additionally, the county already faces a $54 million budget gap, and the Board’s decision could add $20 million more debt to that shortfall. This is irresponsible. A special election should not even be on the table, this should take place on Nov. 5 during the general election.

We know they will find that the many should prevail over the money. Dark money provided by the wealthy few should not override the collective decision of the citizens of this county who have made their voice heard.”

Investigation into recall effort

The State of California has opened an investigation into the group financing the effort to recall Price.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission (CFPPC) is looking into potential violations of the Political Reform Act. Price said back in December that her campaign, Protect the Win for Public Safety, filed a complaint with the CFPPC against Reviving the Bay Area — the political action committee financing SAFE.

On Tuesday during a news conference in Oakland, Price confirmed the CFPPC has formally opened an investigation.

“Between September 2023 and November 2023, they donated approximately $578,000 to SAFE without complying with the laws that govern all political committees in California,” Price said.

In a letter, the CFPPC says it is investigating supporters to recall Price for potential violations of the campaign disclosure provisions of the Political Reform Act, but it has not made a determination about the possible violations.

“There have been a lot of financial irregularities, coupled with the irregular practices of the signature gathering company, PCI communications, that literally paid for hundreds of people to come into our community and gathering signatures using bait and switch tactics and misleading people and engaging in fraudulent signature gatherings,” Price said.

The CFPPC investigation could take weeks up to several years. Penalties could range from a warning to fines.

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