Despite being eight months away from reelection, San Franciscans cast their votes Tuesday whether or not to recall three school board members. Voters will also elect their choice of state assembly representative.
Supported by Mayor Breed, Board President Gabriela López, Vice President Faauuga Moliga and Commissioner Alison Collins are on the recall ballot. Parents criticized the San Francisco Unified School District board after it focused on renaming schools instead of reopening during the pandemic. In March of last year, some of Collins racist tweets resurfaced and faced backlash from the community.
Four other members were on the ballot but failed to meet the eligibility requirement for a recall, not having served a full year on the board.
Some San Franciscans were also eligible to vote in the Assembly District 17 primaries, with candidates including the city’s District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney, San Francisco Democratic Party Chair David Campos and political up-and-comer Bilal Mahmood.
Despite being settled between Lowell High School, a major talking point of the recall, and Lakeshore Elementary, zero voters had cast their ballots or dropped-off their mail-in ballots at the polling center at SF State around 3 p.m.
Poll workers sat in chairs, reading books and scrolling through their phones, waiting for some action. Mel Washington, in a navy shirt and lanyard with the word “inspector,” would occasionally peek into the street in search of pedestrians.
The Gubernatorial recall was the first election that he worked for, Washington said. He had been asked if he could work the next recall and Washington said yes. He arrived early, some minutes before 6 a.m. to set up with his fellow poll workers.
For Caryn Matters, working at the polls was something she’d always wanted to do. She described her first experience as “a little disappointing.”
While she didn’t expect a huge turnout, Matters hoped to see at least a dozen voters throughout the day. Instead, they were met with none.
“I really do believe that in a democracy, we should have like 80-to-90% turnout, and this is really disheartening.” Matters said.
Washington told Xpress that it would be better for recalls to happen during regular elections, adding “it would save taxpayers a lot of money.”
