April 5, 2023

Supervisor Nora Vargas, Chair of the Board

Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, Vice-Chair

Supervisor Joel Anderson

Supervisor Jim Desmond

County Administration Center

1600 Pacific Highway, Room 335

San Diego, CA 92101

RE: Call to Hold a Special Election to fill District 4 Vacancy

Dear San Diego County Board of Supervisors:

On behalf of Alliance San Diego, we respectfully request that the Board of Supervisors call a special election to determine the next Supervisor for District 4. Additionally, we ask that you allocate county resources to ensure voters are aware of the election so they have an opportunity to participate and that you also provide accessible voting options. 

April 8, 2022

San Diego City Council 

Sent via email to [email protected]

Dear Members of the San Diego City Council:

In the interest of protecting our democracy, Alliance San Diego urges you to honor the March 8, 2022 decision of San Diego Superior Court Judge Medel and not appeal it. The judge made clear in his decision that the City Council violated the law when it asserted authority it did not have to delay the outcome of an election and then change the rules of the election, ultimately declaring an outcome that was inconsistent with the certified results of that election.

Written by Dr. Isidro D. Ortiz, ASD board president

We spoke truth to power — and we won!  This week, a San Diego Superior Court judge sided with voters in a lawsuit we brought against the San Diego City Council for manipulating the March 2020 election. In a strongly worded opinion, the judge rebuked the Council for attempting to change the rules of the election after it was over, calling this “fundamentally unfair” and a violation of “due process.”

Written by Dr. Isidro D. Ortiz, ASD board president

I came of age in the civil rights era, and the fight for voting rights had a profound effect on me. That fight was a turning point for the Mexican-American community I grew up in, as it was for Black Americans and other communities of color who had been pushed out of the voting booths and marginalized in our democracy. It was a fight about belonging and also about fairness, and we won. Or so I thought.