Rep. Evan Low attempted to stop the recount within the Congressional District 16 race by having his attorneys send a notice to the Santa Clara County registrar of voters asking them to stop the recount just days before it began, based on a letter obtained by the news organization .
Low and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian are currently tied for second place within the race to exchange longtime U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo. The two candidates, together with former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, who finished first, were expected to advance to the November general election after the historic tie – the primary for a congressional election within the state after California moved into the highest two spots was open primary system greater than a decade ago.
But last week, two people in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, where the district falls, filed paperwork demanding a vote recount.
On April 12, 2020, Biden delegate and former campaign staffer for Liccardo Mayor Jonathan Padilla posted $12,000 bail in Santa Clara County. And on Monday morning, each counties began recounts, pulling ballots from ballot boxes as they prepared to start recounting the 182,135 votes solid.
Low and his campaign were critical of the recount, which could force him or Simitian from November's election if the outcomes change, and criticized Liccardo and his camp, calling it “a page straight from Trump's political playbook.” . In his recount request, Padilla wrote that he requested it on Low's behalf, but noted that he had not communicated or coordinated with Low or any of the opposite campaigns. By law, filers must indicate which candidate they’re filing for, which is usually one among the candidates in an in depth or undecided race.
On the identical day that Padilla made a deposit for the recount, Low's attorneys, Emma Olson Sharkey and Aaron M. Mukerjee of Elias Law Group, sent a letter to Santa Clara County Registrar Shannon Bushey stating that a machine recount “cannot move forward.”
In the letter obtained by The Mercury News, Sharkey and Mukerjee argued that Padilla modified his request on the last minute from a manual recount, which was expected to cost greater than $400,000, to a less expensive machine recount. The lawyers said the deadline to request a recount was April 10, and while Padilla filed his original request for a manual recount on April 9, he asked to amend it on April 12, after the deadline.
Low's lawyers said Padilla must make a deposit for the costly manual recount on or before April 16, and if he fails to accomplish that, the recount can’t be conducted.
“Over the past three days, both Santa Clara and San Mateo counties have spent significant staff time and taxpayer resources preparing for the manual recount requested by Mr. Padilla,” Sharkey and Mukerjee wrote. “Evan Low for Congress also spent time preparing for a manual recount: and members of the public and interested parties also devoted their own resources to it. Under California law, Mr. Padilla is not permitted to simply change his mind and file a new application at this time, on the last business day before the recount begins.”
The Santa Clara County registrar of voters couldn’t be reached for comment Monday evening, but sources accustomed to the matter said the county plans to maneuver forward with the recount.
Low's campaign declined to comment on whether or not they would pursue further legal motion, but a source accustomed to the matter said they didn’t expect the MPs' camp to take further motion at the moment.
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