Organizers behind recall of Alameda County DA Pamela Price welcome manual count of signatures
Organizers of a campaign to recall Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price said Friday that they welcome a manual count of signatures gathered to get the recall on the ballot after the county registrar of voters announced that a random sampling of the signatures did not meet its criteria.
Registrar of Voters Tim Dupuis announced Thursday that the results of a random sampling of the 123,374 signatures submitted in a petition on March 4 by the group Save Alameda For Everyone "are not sufficient to determine whether the signature threshold to call for a recall election has been met."
The recall effort needs 73,195 signatures to qualify for the ballot. State law mandates that the county registrar conduct a manual count when a random sampling doesn't produce a "statistically confident determination of the sufficiency of the petition," Dupuis said in a news release.
The registrar said it was in the best interest of both Price and the recall proponents to ensure the signatures are counted reliably.
Brenda Grisham and Carl Chan with the Save Alameda For Everyone group said in a statement Friday that they welcome the registrar's manual count. The recall organizers have accused Price of being soft on crime since taking office as district attorney in January 2023.
"In this way, it further protects the recall's petition gathering process from any legal challenges," they said.
Chan told CBS News Bay Area that he is confident their campaign has more than enough valid signatures.
"Not only that we're not worried, we are actually celebrating that the counting is about to be done. We may be able to save some time for any legal claims that they may have," said Chan.
"I'm okay with that delay for them to get it right," said Patricia Harris, a recall volunteer.
Harris said she's used to waiting. In fact, she said she's still waiting for justice over the killing of her son, Jarin Purvis, who was working at Apple and getting his master's degree at the time of his death. She said the man convicted of the killing was released after serving two and half years.
"Had Pamela Price not come in, we would've gotten some form of justice. There would've been some form of justice served. But when you take away a gun enhancement, you take away 10 years (of jail time)," Harris told CBS News Bay Area.
The campaign opposing the recall of Price has alleged that there were deceptive and fraudulent efforts by organizers to get enough signatures to get the recall on the ballot and said Thursday they too welcomed the manual count.
"This is a major failure on the side of the folks that have been pushing this recall," said William Fitzgerald, a spokesman for "Protect the Win" campaign.
"In their year-long campaign, was there (anything) there? And it's clear that there wasn't. It's clear that they're having trouble to meet the threshold," he went on to say.
While Price supporters said the D.A. is reforming the criminal justice system and holding people accountable, Harris believed getting rid of Price would make Alameda County safer.
She doesn't want another family to go through her pain.
"His best friends are getting married in a couple of weeks. So we'll go to that, but we'll never see him get married. We'll never have grandkids by him and that hurts," said Harris.
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors approved the public vote on the recall during a meeting last November.
The recall has become a contentious issue in East Bay politics, with families of crime victims clashing with Price supporters at public forums. Price has faced pointed questions from Oakland business owners and residents who told her crime in the city has made living and working there difficult.
Price and her office's handling of high-profile cases has faced severe criticism. Among the cases that have become flash points in the recall effort are the murder of toddler Jasper Wu and Home Depot loss prevention employee Blake Mohs.
Price is not alone as she faces public critiques over crime and consequences in the East Bay. Last month, a group began collecting signatures for a push to recall Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao.
Da Lin contributed to this report.