A San Mateo County measure giving the Board of Supervisors temporary authority to potentially remove the county sheriff appeared to be overwhelmingly approved by voters in an updated tally of semi-official results that showed most ballots had been counted as of Thursday afternoon.
With nearly 108,000 ballots counted, and just 640 left to process, 84% of voters who cast their ballots voted in favor of Measure A.
There were also 216 ballots that were challenged because of signature or other errors, which can be fixed, or “cured” until April 1.
The measure was spurred by an investigation into alleged misconduct of county Sheriff Christina Corpus, who has resisted calls to resign from supervisors, elected city officials in the county, and a retired judge who conducted a review of her alleged conduct last fall at the request of the Board of Supervisors.
The report from retired judge LaDoris Cordell alleged a pattern of lying, accused Corpus of creating a paid position for someone she allegedly had a personal relationship with, and ordering a subordinate who had criticized her to be arrested for allegations of improperly clocking in. No charges were brought by the district attorney against the deputy arrested.
Under the amendment to the county charter that would be established by Measure A, removal of an elected official would require a four-fifths majority vote by the Board of Supervisors. That official would have an opportunity to argue their case if selected for removal. The board’s authority would expire at the end of 2028.
Out of about 445,000 registered voters in the county, about 108,000 ballots were cast, representing just under 25% of the total registered electorate.
For comparison, about 76% of registered voters voted in the November general election, with just over 443,000 voters registered at the time.
Shifting voter sentiment
Corpus was elected in the 2022 primary election, which declares a winner without advancing to a general election if a candidate receives more than 50% of the vote. She received about 57% of the votes for sheriff in a contest that saw about 38% of registered voters cast a ballot. There were about 433,500 voters registered at the time.
She received 82,622 votes in her election. With a few hundred votes left to count, county voters had cast 90,466 votes in favor of Measure A.
Corpus did not respond to a request for comment on the results and whether they would influence her decision to reject calls to resign.
Thomas Mazzucco, a legal representative for Corpus in a lawsuit challenging the election, previously said that a legal challenge would likely resume if the Board of Supervisors actually acted to remove her.
In that case, San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Nicole Healy ruled that there was no basis to stop the actual election but declined to hear other legal challenges raised until action authorized by the measure potentially occurred.
Corpus has filed a separate $10 million lawsuit against the county alleging discrimination and harassment. Mazzucco is not representing her in that case.
The next vote tally update will come on Monday at 4:30 p.m. The results will be certified on April 3.