MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Alina Garcia, the county’s supervisor of elections, announced that she did not approve a recent recall petition form because it did not meet the format that the county’s code requires.
In a statement, Garcia wrote she was grateful for Miami-Dade Commissioner Anthony Rodriguez, the commission’s chairman, for adding the issue to Monday’s commission meeting.
“We are hopeful this will finally resolve the issue so voters can fully exercise their rights without interruption,” Garcia wrote.
Attorney Ricci Carabeo, of the VPP Law Firm, submitted the petition, according to Barby Rodriguez, the chief of staff of the Clerk of Court and Comptroller of Miami-Dade County Eleventh Judicial Circuit.
Alex Otaola, a former Miami-Dade County mayoral candidate and the host of “Hola Ota-Ola!” on YouTube, has said voters need to recall Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine-Cava.
During his latest “Hola Ota-Ola!” episode, published in Spanish on Monday on the Cubanos Por El Mundo channel, which has about 475,000 subscribers, Otaola criticized Levine-Cava for having welcomed Afghan refugees to Miami-Dade.
The commentary follows a fatal shooting in Washington, D.C., involving an Afghan gunman and President Donald Trump’s efforts to curtail immigration. Otaola also said Levine-Cava wants Eileen Higgins, a Miami mayoral candidate, to be elected.
“Vote responsibly,” Otaola said, and asked his followers to vote for Higgins’s opponent, Emilio T. Gonzalez, a former city manager and a Republican.
Otaola, a Republican, described Higgins and Levine-Cava as “globalists” and “socialists.” Higgins and Levine Cava are both registered Democrats.
This is a developing story. Local 10 News Assignment Planner Abby Lawing contributed to this report.
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