An effort to recall a Eugene City Councilor appears to have succeeded, judging by last night’s election returns.
But the final outcome may be determined in court.
By 9:00pm Tuesday night, Lane County Elections showed roughly 60 percent of Ward 7 voters favoring a recall of Claire Syrett, with 40 percent opposed.
Just under 3,400 ballots have been counted, though 13,000 were sent out. Many more ballots are due that were postmarked before the election deadline, as allowed under a new Oregon law. Then there’s Lane County’s certification which takes place next month.
Petitioners had attacked Syrett on a number of issues, but the point of contention is whether they misrepresented her stance on the possible expansion of Em-X transit lines in her ward.
Syrett and her campaign are still waiting on a court date to explore that charge.
“In terms of the ability of folks to use – in my campaign’s estimation - deceptive tactics to promulgate a recall effort, and that is a very dangerous precedent for our democracy and our electoral system.
“So we have filed a lawsuit in circuit court, because we believe this recall election was promulgated under false information which is illegal under the statutes that govern recalls. So we are expecting a court date, to adjudicate whether our claims are valid.”
If the judge agrees with Syrett’s campaign, they would invalidate the recall results, and she would retain her seat. While there’s no timeline for this process, Syrett says they’ve asked for an expedited process, to avoid disrupting Eugene City Council business.
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