A group of over ten community residents gathered in front of the Alameda County City Hall on December 10th (Tuesday) to protest the slow counting process and lack of transparency in the county, calling for the recall of County Registrar of Voters Tim Dupuis.
The chants of “We deserve better service” and “Fire Tim Dupuis” echoed outside the Alameda County City Hall on Tuesday. This group of residents has successfully recalled two officials this year, including Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.
The event was initiated by Edward Escobar, founder of the Community Participation Alliance (CCE). Escobar expressed disappointment with Registrar of Voters Dupuis, citing numerous issues such as delayed ballot counting, lack of transparency, and poor resource management. Dupuis, who holds dual roles and earns close to half a million dollars a year, has been deemed unfit for either role. One mistake is bad enough, not to mention his repeated problems in past elections. Public dissatisfaction with him has been ongoing, and Alameda County has become a laughingstock in California due to repeated delays in election results.
In November of this year, Kanitha Matoury, an Oakland business owner running for city council, stated that her candidacy was not clearly visible on electronic ballots, with even voters specifically looking to vote for her unable to find her name on the electronic ballot.
Seneca Scott of Neighbors Together Oakland delivered a speech during the rally, highlighting that the Oakland City Charter explicitly states that the number of choices in an election ballot should match the number of candidates. However, in the 2022 election, despite having 10 mayoral candidates, only five choices were provided on the ballot.
Mark Zulum, a member of the Election Integrity Team of Alameda County California (EITACCA), mentioned that himself and other observers were repeatedly denied entry to the Registrar of Voters’ office to observe the elections, which is a violation of California election law.
Tuan Ngo of the Asians Unite Movement noted that in the city council elections, with 10 candidates, only 8 names were displayed on the voting screen, making it impossible for voters to select their preferred candidate. He told Epoch Times that election observers are unable to comprehend the entire process from receiving to tallying of the ballots, leading to a loss of public trust in the election process.
Jared Krestanik stated, “We demand to observe the election process, but we are kept in the dark and can’t see anything. Dupuis and his deputy Cynthia Cornellho lied to our faces. They said, ‘Nothing much is happening today,’ but when you check the surveillance footage at home, you see them actually handling the ballots.”