Three people will miss an already crowded race for Oakland mayor because the city clerk's office gave out inaccurate materials to potential candidates, city officials admitted Wednesday.
The materials told potential candidates they had until Aug. 17 to file completed paperwork. But after the clerk's staff gave out the materials, they realized the Aug. 17 deadline applied only to the two City Council races this year.
The deadline for the mayor's race, clerk staff realized, was Aug. 12 based on the elections code. The clerk's staff did not tell the candidates with pending paperwork until Aug. 12 that they had only until the end of the day to file.
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"While we regret the confusion this has caused, the candidate filing deadline in question is prescribed by the California State Elections Code," said Assistant City Clerk Britney Davis. "Neither the City Clerk nor any other city official has discretion to alter or waive state elections law, including authority to extend the filing deadline."
Nine candidates have qualified to run for mayor this fall in Oakland, including City Council president pro tem Sheng Thao, and City Councilmembers Loren Taylor and Treva Reid, according to a list posted Monday on the City Clerk's website.
The candidates who didn't make the ballot were ACLU attorney Allyssa Victory Villanueva, Derrick Soo and Oakland teacher Monesha “MJ” Carter.
The only recourse for the candidates who didn't make the ballot is the court system, according to the California Secretary of State's office.
Carter was able to file on time, but the Alameda County Registrar of Voter's office deemed her signatures insufficient.
Carter believes that perhaps some signatures were invalid and if she had until Aug. 17, she would have collected enough valid signatures.
"I just want to be on the ballot," said Carter, who is also a Howard University graduate hoping to join the ranks of other Howard graduates who are mayors, on Tuesday.
Two of the nine candidates who qualified for the ballot spoke out on Twitter Tuesday evening, saying that they also thought the deadline was Aug. 17.
"Like many other candidates, I was given the incorrect filing date for my filing and had to turn in my required paperwork at the last minute in order to qualify," Thao said on Twitter. "I am deeply troubled that this same thing happened to other candidates who could not make it onto the ballot in time."
Taylor said prior to his filing he was advised "that the last day for filing in the Mayor's race was August 17th," he tweeted.
"I believe these candidates made their plans for their candidate filing in reliance upon this bad information, and should not be punished for it," Taylor said. "My hope is that a path forward is found for these candidates to qualify for the ballot."
Bay City News contributed to the report.
