CALEXICO — Recently recalled Calexico City Council members Raul Ureña and Gilberto Manzanarez are likely to have their seats officially vacated as soon as the next regular council meeting on May 8, according to election procedures.

Meanwhile, just days after the special recall election results were officially certified on Monday, April 29, by Imperial County Registrar of Voters Linsey Dale, the county election official shared her thoughts of how some politicians in Calexico handled the recall, specifically Mayor Gloria Romo.

“Since the election, I have been extremely disappointed with the mayor. There is a lot of misinformation that has been shared on social media, and different avenues of the media, claiming that voters did not receive ballots, and it’s just not accurate information,” Dale said in a phone interview on Wednesday, May 1.

The registrar has had her hands full with the recall for the last couple weeks, and wants to ensure the proper information is given to the public, especially surrounding statements made by Romo. 

“There was a quick analysis done after Mayor Romo claimed that people went to polling sites and their names weren’t on the roster,” Dale said. “But a lot of those voters were showing up at wrong polling places.

“Voters were on rosters, they just went to the wrong location,” she emphasized.

Due to the voter confusion, there were 550 provisional ballots to process, an extremely high amount, according to Dale. She said the provisionals made up about 10 percent of the votes, and in comparison, the regular March Primary only had 4 percent in provisional ballots.

The final tally for the April 16 election saw some 5,525 ballots cast, for a voter turnout of some 25.69 percent. Ureña received 3,971 “yes” votes, making up some 72.25 percent in favor of recall. For Manzanarez, he had 3,878, or 71.20 percent, “yes” votes. Each needed just 50 percent plus one vote to be ousted.  

Per election process, Dale stated that the Imperial County Board of Supervisors will be reviewing the registrar’s results at its next meeting on Tuesday, May 7. Doing its part in the special election process, the supervisors will accept the certification from Dale, likely followed by the Calexico City Council following suit at its meeting on Wednesday, May 8.

The final action regarding the recall election will take place at Calexico’s council meeting on May 8, in accordance with the timelines laid out by California special election laws.

The City Council has duties to adopt the resolution and certify the results for official implementation. In accordance with the special election law, the council is obligated to include the recall in its May 8 agenda, which would include Ureña and Manzanarez officially being removed from office.

The city of Calexico shared information regarding the special recall election to update the residents on how the process will finish. “Pursuant to California Elections Code section 11382 and Government Code section 36512(b), if the preliminary results are confirmed and the recall is certified, Councilmembers Urena’s and Manzanarez’ offices will be declared immediately vacant and the City Council will have 60 days to fill those offices either by appointment or by calling a special election,” the notice stated.

Any office filled by the Calexico council will be effective only until the Nov. 5 general municipal election, at which point the council members will stand for election for the remaining two years of its term (a so-called “short term” election). The officials can run for a full term in an election again on Nov. 3, 2026 for a standard four-year term.

In the limbo period before being asked to officially step down from office, Ureña and Manzanarez cannot participate in any financial decisions for the city, as stated by a California government code, and are required to recuse themselves from any fiduciary conversations. Neither of the two council members were available for comments regarding the results of the election.

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