It's been weeks since Election Day, but as most counties are wrapping up their vote count, there is growing concern about both the election and the vote count in Alameda County.
Candidates for Oakland's at-large city council seat are demanding an investigation into the election process.
In a letter to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and the election committee, seven out of the 10 candidates running for Oakland at-large council seat are expressing concern over the integrity and transparency of the county’s electronic voting system.
Kanitha Matoury spearheaded the effort after her supporters told her they had trouble finding her name on the electronic ballot in the crowded race.
“They said that, you know, if they didn't know that I was running, they would have just skipped me altogether,” Matoury said.
The digital ballot does not appear to show all 10 candidates on one page, meaning to find two of the candidates -- including Matoury -- voters had to move to a second page.
While there is a prompt at the bottom of the screen noting a second page of candidates, Matoury says that’s not enough.
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Now, seven candidates are demanding an independent investigation before the results are expected to be certified by the county on Dec. 5. They also want changes to the system, to ensure all candidates names appear on one page in future elections
They’re also calling for additional oversight for Tim Dupris, who leads both the county registrar of voters and the county’s IT department.
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“I don't think that's just the same people, right? Because this is something that should be different people,” Matory said. “So the count needs to be checked a little bit more carefully and closely.”
Another candidate, Charlene Wang, said she isn’t challenging the final results of the election, but is calling for future corrections.
“In the future there is an election where a candidate on the second page is really close with somebody who's on the first page, and I think that would be catastrophic if the results were challenged,” she said. “And so I think there's an opportunity here to make sure that our process is gonna make sure that doesn't happen in the future.”
The registrar of voters has been under fire for weeks over how long it takes to count all ballots. And some critics claim there were similar digital ballot issues in the 2022 Oakland Mayoral Election.
Critics also point out a misconfiguration of the system in 2022 resulted in the wrong winner being announced in a school board race.
“I've seen just a culture or processes that demonstrate there are competency issues here with the registrar voters,” Wang said. “I just think it's a matter of like, let's hold ourselves to the highest standards.”
Dupris confirms all ballots in the county have been counted as of last week, aside from around 5,000 with signature issues.
He did not make further comment, but plans to wait to certify the election on Dec. 5.
The board of supervisors did not answer NBC Bay Area's request for comment.
Matoury is also waiting to hear back from supervisors. In the meantime she is contacting every election oversight agency she can, including the California Secretary of State.
Rowena J Brown, who won the seat, said in a statement, "I look forward to the conclusion of the balloting/counting process, and as always, the Registrar for taking any necessary steps to continue to reassure voters of the integrity of the County’s vote count process."
