SANTA ANA, Calif. (CNS) — The Santa Ana police union's attempt to recall Mayor Pro Tem Jessie Lopez may be in jeopardy due to a legal dispute stemming from the collection of signatures to put the question on the ballot, officials said Friday.

Orange County Registrar of Voters Bob Page sent a letter dated Thursday to Santa Ana City Clerk Jennifer Hall raising the issue of which ward map was used when petitioners were collecting signatures from voters. Lopez was elected in 2020, so Page said it appears that the petition drive should have used the map of voters who elected her, not the ones she is representing now since redistricting last year.

"The current post-redistricting Ward 3 boundaries includes 362 active voters who did not reside in the old Ward 3 boundaries and excludes 1,186 voters who reside within the old Ward 3 boundaries," Page said in the letter.

Page said that as a result, the recall petition falls short by 230 signatures. Page asked for the city to provide direction on how to proceed given the dispute.

The city issued a statement saying the city attorney was "reviewing all legal options."

County officials say the Registrar of Voters acts as a contractor that runs the election for the city, which includes collecting ballots and counting votes as well as monitoring voting centers. But it was up to the city to do what was necessary to prepare the ballot.

Page said a letter from another county registrar elsewhere in the state asking for advice about a recall there prompted him to go over the materials sent to his office in the Santa Ana recall election.

Ada Briceno, the chairwoman of the Orange County Democratic Party, said the recall election ought to be canceled.

"The party has been against the recall from the beginning," Briceno said. "But it would be very difficult to hold an election when the correct voters were not apprised or received ballots. I don't know how we have a democracy if some got ballots and some didn't. I don't think the election should proceed."

Messages left with the police union and Lopez were not immediately returned.

Voter centers in the election were scheduled to be open Nov. 4 for early voting, and election day is Nov. 14. The election was expected to be certified by Dec. 8.