Recall group claims Chico City Clerk used inconsistent recall standards
CHICO, Calif. — Efforts to recall two Chico council members continue.
The group leading the way to recall republican city councilmembers Mayor Andrew Coolidge and Sean Morgan are now claiming the City Clerk and City Elections Official, Debbie Presson, used inconsistent recall standards.
"Fair election procedures are not just about the voting process or the vote-counting process, but also about access to the ballot," said recall proponent David Welch.
In November, Presson rejected papers submitted by Chico Voters to recall Coolidge and Morgan.
After gaining access to copies of papers filed in 2019, recalling democratic city councilmembers Karl Ory and Randall Stone, Chico Voters are saying Presson applied different rules based on the recall's target ideologies.
"Copies of the Stone/Ory recall papers produced yesterday by the city in response to public records request show that in those cases Presson accepted papers with the same supposed "defects" for which she rejected the Morgan/Coolidge recall papers," said the spokesperson for Chico Voters, Morgan Kennedy.
Presson rejected the recall papers in November due to incorrect formatting such as names and addresses typed rather than printed, names and addresses printed by someone other than the petitioner, and minor differences in printed and signed names - all things Chico Voters say Presson accepted for the Stone/Ory recall notice.
"This gross misconduct by the city clerk election official has caused Chico Voters over a month of valuable time to gather signatures to place the Morgan/Coolidge recall question on the June 2022 ballot. If this delay by Presson’s office results in the recall effort becoming a Special Election, all election costs to the City and the County will be the fault of her office."
One of the original recall proponents, Addison Winslow, says Chico Voters would like to see the Morgan/Coolidge recall question placed on the June 2022 ballot as opposed to a Special Election "to seek the broadest engagement" said Winslow.
Chico Voters are asking for all communications between the City Clerk/Elections office and all former and current council members with respect to any and all recalls. They are also requesting all communications between the City Clerk’s office and the County Clerk Recorder’s office.
"Anytime somebody takes actions that call that into question or create the perception that access to the ballot might not be fair, then that really threatens American democracy in an important way," said Welch.
Despite the setbacks, Chico Voters say they still plan on gathering enough signatures, to get the recall question placed on the ballot.
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