Judge reinstates Stockton City Council candidates Ralph Lee White, Mariela Ponce

Two candidates running for Stockton City Council have been added to the March 5 primary ballot after being disqualified from their races.

San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Jayne Lee has reinstated former councilman Ralph Lee White in District 6 and healthcare worker Mariela Ponce in District 2. Lee signed the judgment at a Dec. 27 court hearing inside Department 10C.

An attempt to reach White was unsuccessful. Ponce declined to comment. Both petitioned the court for a writ of mandamus directed to the city of Stockton and San Joaquin County in late December.

In his petition, White claimed that the city clerk's office "neglected to submit" his nomination paper to the San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters for signature verification.

Stockton City Clerk Eliza Garza is the city's election official, while Olivia Hale is the county's election official. Stockton contracts with the registrar of voters to run the city’s elections, but Garza is ultimately responsible for them.

Garza did not respond to a request for comment by press time. Hale explained that White's initial disqualification occurred due to a clerical error by the city clerk's office.

"They hire my office by resolution to consolidate the elections, print the ballots, and all of that," Hale told The Record. "As far as the city candidates filing, they go to the city clerk's office, and then our office does the signature verification because we have the voter roll."

The city charter states that a candidate's nomination paper needs to have at least 10 signatures to run for city council. White claimed in court documents that he submitted his nomination paper, including his signatures, to the city clerk's office on Nov. 28.

When the city clerk receives a candidate's nomination paper, they typically forward the paper to the registrar of voters for signature verification within 24 hours. However, on Dec. 8, Garza realized White's paper had not been forwarded, court documents said.

"Having discovered its error, the city clerk forwarded petitioner's nomination to the registrar at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 8, 2023, less than four hours before the close of filing," White's petition reads. "A few hours later, the registrar's office provided the result of its verification to the city clerk. Then, around 4:30 p.m., the city clerk's office called petitioner to inform him that he was three signatures short."

White was short because one voter signed without writing her name, and two others were not registered to vote. With 30 minutes remaining before the deadline, White arranged to have the three individuals meet him at the city clerk's office so they could register, court documents said.

"Everyone made it to the clerk’s office on short notice. But, despite their monumental effort, they did not complete the process by 5 p.m., and the clerk would not certify petitioner as a candidate for city council," White's petition reads.

In Ponce's case, Hale said she was disqualified because she was inaccurately listed as "not a registered voter."

"We had an error because she was a registered voter, but she was inactive because she hadn't voted since 2016, so she was on the inactive list," Hale said.

She explained that her staff listed her as "not a registered voter" because the verification form sent to the city clerk's office doesn't have a box that says "inactive voter." She added that her staff sent an email with the form that said Ponce was, in fact, in the district but was an inactive voter.

"I don't know what happened on the city clerk's side, but from what I understand, (the nomination paper) was received by our office on Nov. 22, and we sent it back on Nov. 22," Hale said. "For whatever reason, the candidate was not informed until Dec. 8."

Now that they are officially on the ballot, White will run against businessman Jason Lee, social worker Kimberly Warmsley, financial advisor Satnam Singh, pastor Ronnie Murray, and community volunteer Zoyla Moreno for the District 6 seat.

Ponce will be running against business owner Anthony Silva, business owner Pamela Pettis-Houston, and county technology manager Waqar Rizvi for the District 2 seat.

Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Two disqualified Stockton City Council candidates reinstated