A candidate for Oakland mayor is celebrating the victory of getting back on the ballot after a series of events mistakenly disqualified her from the race. Velena Jones explains.
A candidate for Oakland mayor is celebrating a victory in what has become a confusing race to get on the November ballot.
Allyssa Victory is back on the campaign trail after she said she was illegally disqualified from the race and removed from the ballot.
Multiple mix-ups happened in the race to get to this point. Victory, who is also an ACLU attorney, recently submitted an election complaint to the Secretary of State after being told her endorser signatures need to be verified voters. However, under the city's own code, endorsers only have to be residents of Oakland.
The City Clerk's Office said the county registrar made the mistake, and after reviewing city code they confirmed Victory is back in the race.
"This has only brought more light to the issues going on with our city, with our democracy and the threats to people of color to be represented in our city," she said.
Monesha MJ Carter is one of the two other people disqualified after the clerk's office gave contenders the wrong deadline to submit their paperwork.
Derrick Soo, who was also taken off the ballot, is now hoping to win as a write-in candidate.
"I'm happy that also opens the doors for the rest of us because now they have acknowledged that they did have some wrongdoing," he said. "To cancel out that wrongdoing, they should just open up the balloting."
With Victory back on the ballot, the city needs to hold another drawing to see whose name will appear first on the ballot. This is yet another mix-up that other candidates said is creating problems.
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"To have to draw again at random because of the city's mistake, especially after having devoted resources and assist to marketing us, being number one choice is extremely problematic," said mayoral candidate Seneca Scott.
