Oakland, CA – Today Ms. Allyssa Victory Villanueva submitted the required documentation proving the residency of her endorsers, bringing her to a total of 10 verified endorsers as required and allowing her to qualify on the November ballot as a candidate for the office of Mayor.
Under Oakland Municipal Code section 3.08.080, candidates are required to submit at least 10 signatures and addresses of “endorsers” who are Oakland residents. It does not require them to be registered to vote. Ms. Villanueva had submitted 11 names of endorsers before the statutory deadline, but the Alameda County Registrar of Voters was unable to verify three of them using the voter roll, initially disqualifying her for the ballot.
Last week, Ms. Villanueva notified the Clerk’s Office that all her endorsers reside in Oakland. The City subsequently clarified the municipal code requirement with the Registrar of Voters that the endorsers need to be Oakland residents, not voters, and reviewed the three endorsers in question. Through research and documentation provided by Ms. Villaneuva, the City has confirmed that two of the signatures met the residency requirements, bringing the total to 10. As a result, today the City Clerk is confirming that Allyssa Victory Villanueva has qualified as a candidate for Mayor on the November ballot.
Besides Ms. Villanueva, the only other individual that pulled paperwork and filed but did not qualify was Monesha Carter. The Alameda County-Register of Voters deemed Ms. Carter’s nomination signatures insufficient; the California Elections Code 10220 requires these signatures to be registered voters. In the case of Ms. Carter, she did not have enough qualifying signatures.
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