The vacuum created by the withdrawal of former Santa Cruz County Treasurer Liz Gutfahr as a candidate in the upcoming election has been filled by three write-in candidates, Democrats Alejandro Paz and Jesus Kataura, and Independent Carola Romero.
The three candidates have to run as write-ins because the deadline to file as partisan candidates, and to have their names printed on the ballot, was April 5, just two days after the County had been notified of possible “irregular bank transfers” conducted by the treasurer’s office, and a week before Gutfahr resigned on April 12, prompted by a federal investigation into the alleged misappropriation of $4.15 million from the county treasury.
Paz, who is currently serving as interim County treasurer, was appointed by the Board of Supervisors on May 7 to finish Gutfahr’s term. He will be running as an official write-in candidate in the Democratic primary, to be held on July 30, as will Kataura.
Voters partial to Romero, who is running as an independent, will be able to write her name in at the general election, to be held November 5.
Becoming an official write-in candidate is a little more complicated than just announcing that you would like people to write your name in on election day. Write-in candidates seeking any County Office must file a nomination declaration and a financial disclosure statement with the Santa Cruz County Elections Department. They must form a committee and file a statement of organization within ten days after meeting the $1,400 monetary threshold for receiving contributions or making expenditures, in any combination. The deadline for filing as an official write-in candidate was June 20 for the July 30 primary election and is September 26 for the Nov. 5 general election.
Don’t expect to see these write-in candidates’ names on the ballot. According to the County Recorder’s website, “The [write-in] candidate’s name will not be printed on the ballot…the candidate may advertise their candidacy and ask voters to write their name in as official write-in candidates.” The names of official write-in candidates will be posted at the polling place.
Don’t worry if you misspell the candidate’s name. “Any abbreviation, misspelling, or other minor variation in the form of the name of a candidate or political party shall be disregarded in determining the validity of the ballot if the intention of the vote can be ascertained,” according to the County’s election website.
If the voter writes in a name other than those who have filed the required nomination documents, their vote will not be counted. Also, if the voter fails to completely fill in the oval next to the write-in candidate line on the ballot, their vote will not be counted.
Write-in candidates are not required to collect signatures to appear on the ballot. However, the winner of this upcoming Democratic primary election for county treasurer must receive at least 255 votes to move forward to the general election in November. (This number is based on the minimum number of nomination petition signatures required for candidates other than write-ins to submit to qualify for the primary election ballot.)
The name of the write-in winner of the July 30 Democratic primary will then appear on the Nov. 5 general election ballot.