Signatures in Alameda County DA Pamela Price recall to be counted by hand

(KRON) — Signatures collected in an effort to recall Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price will be recounted by hand, the Alameda County Registrar of Voters (ROV) announced Thursday. Earlier this month, the ROV received 123,374 signatures in support of a petition to recall Price.

The ROV said it conducted a count of the signatures using a random sampling method authorized by state law. However, according to the ROV, the results of the random sampling are not sufficient to determine whether the signature threshold to call for a recall election has been met.

For a recall election to be held, a total of 73,195 signatures are required. The ROV said it will now begin a manual recount.

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“State law requires the ROV to rely upon a manual count of the verified signatures in this situation because the random sampling technique did not produce a statistically confident determination of the sufficiency of the petition,” the ROV said. “A manual count of the verified signatures will ensure that everyone can be confident about the ROV’s determination of the sufficiency of the recall petition, and it is in the best interests of the proponents of the recall, the target of the recall and the public, generally, that the signatures are counted reliably.”

The group behind the effort to recall Price, Save Alameda For Everyone (SAFE), has accused the DA of failing “to hold perpetrators accountable.”

“DA Price is jeopardizing the safety of every resident and business in Alameda County, by failing to enforce the law, prosecute criminals, and keep violent offenders off our street,” the group has stated.

In a statement Friday, SAFE said it remained confident that more than the required number of signatures collected would be deemed legally valid by the ROV.

“We launched a grassroots effort to reclaim public safety on behalf of the people of Alameda County. We welcome the Registrar of Voters hand count of more than 120,000 signatures we submitted, ensuring the integrity of the election process,” said recall proponents Brenda Grisham and Carl Chan.

Price has accused the group of “potential widespread voter fraud in connection with signature gathering” related to the recall. Last month, Price’s supporters sent a letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta asking his office to investigate the recall effort.

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