Elections Office acknowledges error
Pertains to statement provided by WJUSD Trustee Emily MacDonald
During a post-print review of the Yolo County Voter Information Guide earlier this month, it was discovered that the recalled statement submitted by Woodland Joint Unified School District Area 2 Trustee Emily MacDonald, whose recall is being sought by area voters, was unintentionally not included in the county voter information guide.
According to an Elections Office press release, the error impacts approximately 4,100 Yolo County voters within Trustee Area 2.
Area 2, which is represented by MacDonald, is rectangle-shaped, with its southern border running along Lincoln Avenue from
County Road 98 to East Street with the northern border running along Beamer Street.
Within hours of confirming this, the Yolo County Elections Office determined the number of impacted voters and implemented a corrective plan.
The plan included expediting to all impacted voters a correction notice letter along with the recallee statement. The statement is also available in the online version of the Yolo County Voter Information Guide.
Voters can visit the official website at https://sites.omniballot.us/06113/app/home to access the statement in the accessible county voter information guide.
Yolo County Elections is committed to ensuring transparency and accuracy in all election-related information, a press release stated.
“Our team has taken immediate action to remedy the error and is reviewing our processes to prevent similar occurrences in the future,” stated Jesse Salinas, Yolo County Assessor/Clerk-Recorder/ Registrar of Voters.
In November, Area 2 voters gathered 1,349 signatures to file a petition with the Yolo County
Elections office to recall MacDonald from the position.
The petition came about following comments made by Macdonald after a unanimous trustee vote approving a resolution adopting June as LGBTQI+ Pride Month. During the June 15, 2023, regularly scheduled school board meeting, MacDonald read aloud a statement that was considered by many community members hateful to LGBTQIA+ youth.
“For a long period of American history, lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans have been grouped together with transgender Americans, and while I share with everyone here enormous respect for the achievements and contributions of Americans who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, this coalition forces acceptance of every aspect of transgenderism in order to be considered an ally of the others and that is wrong,” MacDonald began.
“The political needs and aims of these groups have always been divergent. Women who love women have little in common with women who wish to have a mastectomy, take testosterone and live as men. Men who love men have little in common with men who wish to take estrogen and live as women… Transgender identification has more than doubled in five years, particularly among teenage girls, who were one of the least likely demographics to identify as transgender until the last few years when it became the largest demographic to do so by a large margin. The increase has been so massive that it defies any reasonable explanation at least some degree of social contagion.
…We must act with great caution in order to protect the increasing numbers of children who are experiencing transgender procedures as a result of social contagion without sacrificing the tiny number of individuals who identify as transgender even without social contagion, education campaigns and the social cache attached to a transgender identity in the present. Thank you.”
Those comments led to an outpouring of public comment during a meeting in late June 2023, both in support and against her comments.
MacDonald's statement to the Yolo County Elections Office which can be found on the Elections Office website reads:
“As a WJUSD Trustee, I am concerned that in our efforts to support and affirm transgender and non-binary students, we are inadvertently sending all students a message that feelings of discomfort around body image, relationships and gender roles can mean a student is born into the wrong body,” the statement read. “Some students may then think that medical treatment is necessary or desirable. Our message should accept students as they are, celebrate the wonderful diversity of students at WJUSD and acknowledge the unique gifts that each contributes to the whole.
“Regardless of this petition's outcome, I am heartened by the community's civic engagement in the democratic process. By passionately sharing opinions in a public forum, we model for the citizens of the future the importance of government by the people and for the people. I appreciate the many good-faith conversations I have had with community members, who, regardless of opinion, share with me a desire to see all WJUSD students succeed. Our ability to continue this discussion and reach common ground will determine our success as a District in educating students and creating a place where all students thrive.”