Controversial police-led recall vote wins key ruling in California

A California state judge dismissed efforts this past week to halt a recall vote led by a local police union who are attempting to oust a progressive city council member.

The union, which is upset that the politician voted against officers’ pay raises, has so far spent more than $660,000 on the vote to recall Santa Ana council member Jessie Lopez, with voting happening 14 November.

In California, only 10% of signatures from registered voters in jurisdictions with 100,000 or more voters is required for a recall petition to be approved, giving such measures a much higher chance to succeed than in many other parts of the US – which is why the state has seen recall efforts against its governor, Gavin Newsom; the San Francisco district attorney Chesa Boudin; and the Alameda county district attorney Pamela Price (Newsom remained governor, Boudin was ousted and the effort against Price is ongoing).