In early returns Tuesday night, Santa Ana Councilmember Jessie Lopez looked to be narrowly avoiding a recall.
The first results posted included 5,653 ballots received by the OC Registrar of Voter’s Office ahead of the close of polls at 8 p.m. Tuesday; more than half opposed removing Lopez from the City Council.
There were more than 27,000 ballots mailed out to Ward 3 residents, and 5,776 had been returned as of Nov. 14, according to the OC Registrar of Voters.
The recall effort, led by the Santa Ana Police Officers Association, garnered enough signatures to force the public vote, which asked residents of Ward 3, in the north and northeastern parts of the city, to decide if Lopez should be removed from office.
Proponents of the recall have accused Lopez of “defunding the police” and supporting “destructive policies that have encouraged landlords to raise rents.” They’ve also highlighted her opposition to a 2021 ordinance targeting street racing and support of an “outrageous hike” to housing developers’ fees.
Lopez previously called the claims “misleading,” pointing to her votes in favor of rent control and establishing a police oversight commission.
After ballots were mailed out last month OC Registrar of Voters Bob Page raised questions about which map should have been used when counting the signatures on the petition that forced the special election. A judge decided last week the recall would continue.
Lopez was elected to Santa Ana’s Ward 3 in 2020. In 2022, the boundaries of that ward were changed based on updated demographics from the latest U.S. Census. Page pointed out that ballots were mailed out using the 2022 version of the ward, and about 1,186 people who voted in the ward in 2020 when Lopez was elected did not receive ballots and 357 voters, who are new to the ward, did.
In his letter to the city, Page said given state election laws for when new district maps are to be applied, “it appears that the old Ward 3 map…
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