Item 27 - Recall Petition for Councilmember Jessie Lopez

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Recall Petition for Councilmember Jessie Lopez August 15, 2023 Page 2 councilmembers wished to obtain additional legal counsel on the case and the recommended actions prior to making a final decision, which was provided during Closed Session earlier in this agenda. A petition to recall Councilmember Jessie Lopez, Ward 3, was approved for signature collection by the City Clerk on April 7, 2023. Proponents delivered the completed petition to the City Clerk on June 12, 2023. Following a prima facie examination of the petition as required by law, the City Clerk determined the petition contained the requisite number of signatures of electors of the City, accepted the petition for filing on June 13, 2023, and forwarded the petition to the Orange County Registrar of Voters (ROV) for signature verification. The ROV has determined that the petition contains the requisite number of valid signatures of electors of Santa Ana's Ward 3 to qualify the petition for certification to the City Council and has certified the results as of July 17, 2023. Exhibit 1 is a resolution accepting the ROV's certification, with the certification attached as Exhibit "A" to the resolution. In order for this recall petition to qualify for an election, the petition must contain signatures equal to 20% of the registered voters of Ward 3. The required number of signatures for this recall petition was 5,274. After examination of the petition by the ROV, the ROV determined the following: Number of signatures filed 6,617 Number of signatures required 5,274 Number of signatures verified 6,617 Number of signatures found valid 5,284 Number of signatures found invalid 1,333 Invalid because of duplicate 395 Based upon the certification as to verification of signatures on petition, the City Clerk has prepared the certificate of sufficiency (Exhibit "B" to the Resolution). Pursuant to California Elections Code §11240, the City Council is required to issue an order within 14 days of receiving the certificate of sufficiency stating that an election shall be held to determine whether or not Councilmember Lopez shall be recalled. Such election shall be held not less than 88, nor more than 125, days after the issuance of the order. Elections may only be held on a Tuesday that is not the day before, the day of, or the day after a State holiday. The possible dates for a special election are: November 14, November 21, November 28, December 5, or December 12. As the certificate of sufficiency was presented to City Council on August 1, 2023, August 15, 2023 is the last day for City Council to issue an order stating that an election shall be held and setting the date for the election. Should the City Council fail to issue the order, pursuant to Elections Code §11241, the county elections official (Orange