The City issues this press statement in response to media inquiries regarding Patti Ingram- Spencer v. Natalie Adona, Nevada County Registrar of Voters.
The California Elections Code authorizes any registered voter to file a lawsuit, called an election “challenge,” if he or she has a good faith basis to conclude the outcome of an election should be set aside because of illegal votes or other irregularities.
Patti Ingram-Spencer, a former Councilmember and Mayor of Grass Valley and recent candidate for the Nevada County Board of Supervisors, filed such a suit on April 26, 2024 stating her belief illegal votes were cast in the March 5th election at which Grass Valley voters approved the City’s Measure B. That measure imposes a general, half-cent sales tax the City intends to fund fire safety measures, such as, removing overgrown vegetation and hiring more firefighters. The measure passed by 20 votes — about 0.5 percent of the total.
The Nevada County Counsel and the Grass Valley City Attorney each responded to the suit, denying its allegations. On May 24th, Nevada County Superior Court Judge Robert Tice- Raskin held the initial hearing in the matter, ordering briefs on procedures and deadlines, to resolve the parties’ disputes on those issues. At a June 7th hearing, the judge resolved those issues and ordered trial to begin July 16, 2024 for up to 8 days over three weeks. On June 10, Ms. Ingram-Spencer’s lawyers identified 37 Grass Valley voters she alleges participated in the election unlawfully.
The parties must file any pretrial motions by June 13th. The City will move to dismiss the case for Ms. Ingram-Spencer’s failure to identify the questioned voters three days before the May 24th initial hearing, as the City argues the Elections Code required. Ms. Ingram- Spencer may also file a motion to question the adequacy of the County’s provision of information regarding the election. The court will hear Ms. Ingram-Spencer’s motion — if she files it — on June 20th. The City’s motion will be heard on the first day of trial, July 16th. The parties will file pretrial briefs on July 9th.
The central question is whether the 37 voters Ms. Ingram-Spencer challenges were entitled to vote. Elections results are presumed to be valid, as is the right of registered voters to vote. Therefore, it will be Ms. Ingram-Spencer’s burden to persuade the judge by clear and convincing evidence that sufficient unlawful votes were cast on Measure B to justify an extraordinary court order overturning the election result.
Grass Valley Mayor Jan Arbuckle said: “Fire is the biggest threat to our community and we are grateful to the City’s voters for entrusting us with their tax dollars to do what we can to avoid becoming the next Paradise. But we share the challenger’s interest in quickly confirming the outcome of the election so we can get started on important work to make our community safer. We are grateful to the Superior Court for taking on the extra work required to quickly determine this case.”