The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters denied the Notice of Intention to recall Palo Alto Board of Education Vice President Shounak Dharap because it failed to meet California Election Code section 11020(a)(3).
According to Steve Goltiao, the associate communications officer from the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, the Feb. 21 denial happened because the Notice fell short of the 30 qualified names, addresses and signatures required. Goltiao said some signatories included invalid residential addresses and signatures. This means the recall petition will not be circulated.
A representative of the Dharap Recall Committee who originally submitted the Notice of Intention to recall Dharap wrote in an email to The Campanile that the Registrar of Voters informed them several names were rejected, including two signatures that didn’t match their voter registration signature card, and several additional signatures that had a different address on their voter card.
“Our recall consultant advised us that this is common, as names can be rejected for reasons such as signature mismatches or address discrepancies—a routine part of the process,” the group wrote.
The Dharap Recall Committee said they will refile the Notice of Intention to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters next week after again gathering 30 valid signatures.
“Tensions have run high recently. We’ve all played a part in that, myself included,” Dharap wrote in a statement to The Campanile. “Now, we all share a responsibility to restore a sense of unity in our community … that’s the past forward for us: leaving this recall behind and refocusing on our students and schools. Together.”
This is a developing story. We will continue to update this post as more information becomes available.