2021 Seattle City Council 3rd district recall election
The 2021 Seattle City Council 3rd district recall election was held on December 7, 2021. Kshama Sawant, a member of the Seattle City Council from the 3rd district, defeated an attempt to recall her. This was the first recall election held in Seattle since the one held against Mayor Wesley C. Uhlman in 1975, and the first for a city councilor in the city's history.
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| Turnout | 52.84% | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Precinct results No: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% 90–100% Yes: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% 90–100% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Washington |
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Ernie Lou filed a complaint against Sawant on August 18, 2020, to the King County Elections Office to start the recall campaign against her. The complaint against Sawant included allegations that she violated the law through the use of city resources for the promotion of a ballot initiative, the delegation of employment decisions to Socialist Alternative, and encouraging the creation of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest.
Sawant filed a lawsuit against the recall attempt, but the Judge Jim Rogers certified four of the six complaints, and the Washington Supreme Court certified three of those four on appeal. Sawant and her supporters attempted to have the recall held in November by collecting recall signatures themselves. The recall campaign submitted its signatures and were certified on September 30, 2021. The recall lost with 20,656 voting against and 20,346 voting in favor.