For the first time in San Benito County, an election code
concerning name similarities has been invoked in the Board of
Supervisor’s race.
Incumbent Supervisor Bob Cruz requested that his name appear on
the March ballot with a number one in front of it to distinguish
him from opponent Jaime De La Cruz for the 5th District race.
For the first time in San Benito County, an election code concerning name similarities has been invoked in the Board of Supervisor’s race.
Incumbent Supervisor Bob Cruz requested that his name appear on the March ballot with a number one in front of it to distinguish him from opponent Jaime De La Cruz for the 5th District race.
According to the Election Code, if a candidate feels his/her opponent has a name that is so similar that it may be confused with their name, they may petition the Elections Office within five days of filing their declaration of candidacy, according to the Election Code.
Cruz declared his candidacy Nov. 14, 2003, and requested to have the Election Code invoked on the same day, said Assistant County Clerk Lillian Pereira.
De La Cruz, who filed his papers Nov. 17, 2003, didn’t receive notice from the Elections Office that Cruz had invoked this right until Jan. 9, 2004, he said.
“You’re talking about two months,” De La Cruz said. “In a typical organization if there’s a memo sent out and in two months you get around to it, you’re going to be terminated.”
If there are candidates with similar names the first person to file has the option of requesting a distinguishing mark, De La Cruz said.
“I feel Jaime De La Cruz is in no way similar to Bob Cruz. Maybe if my name was Robert Cruz, then I would understand,” he said. “I feel the Board of Supervisors is taking advantage of (Cruz) being incumbent.”
De La Cruz didn’t know about the code until he received notice from the Elections Office, he said.
If he had known, he also could have petitioned to have a mark placed next to his name on the ballot, as long as he had invoked the code within five days of his filing for candidacy, said County Clerk John Hodges.
“But then you have to ask the question, what is this gonna do for me,” Hodges said.
By law, the Elections Office doesn’t have to notify the opponent that the addition has been made, but as a courtesy, the office contacted De La Cruz after the ballots had been sent to be printed, Hodges said.
“It didn’t come to light until we were looking at the proofs,” he said. “We were not bound to tell him, but we did. As far as a timely situation, I think it was timely. As far as Jaime, first come first serve. And Bob Cruz felt he needed to do that.”
If De La Cruz had known the addition was being made, he would have taken the issue to court to have a judge issue a legal interpretation of the code, he said.
“I just want to know if an ordinary person believes that both names are similar,” De La Cruz said. “I feel the law is being misinterpreted… there is a certain percentage of voters who will vote because they see a one there.”
Whatever individual interpretations may be, the invocation of the law was something that clarifies the issue for voters at the ballot box, not something intended to be discriminatory, Cruz said.
“I took advantage of my right by law,” Cruz said. “Mr. De La Cruz had the same opportunity as I did.”
Part of his decision to invoke the law came from De La Cruz’s campaign actions, Cruz said.
“Mr. De La Cruz has been telling our constituents that I’m not running for office,” Cruz said. “That’s the reason I want people to know I am running – that I’m still alive.”
As specified in the code, if the right is invoked a sentence reading, “Warning! There are two candidates for this office with identical names,” must be placed above the two names.
Although the names are not identical, just similar, it should not confuse or sway voters, Cruz said.
“I didn’t do the printing – I did what I had to do and that’s the way it came out,” Cruz said. “Will it mislead people and get me more votes? Absolutely not. It is something to warn people there are two people running with the same last name.”
Because this is the first time San Benito County has confronted this law, which was put in place in 1994, the wording and mark will most likely have some voters confused, Pereira said.
“I’m sure it is going to generate some phone calls,” she said, “and we’ll have to explain it when they call.”
