By Maria Hickey, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – An effort to recall Alderman Freeman Bosley, Sr., has failed.
The St. Louis Board of Elections announced Friday the petition effort to recall the Third Ward alderman came up 296 signatures short.
The Board made the final certification shortly after a judge ruled on a lawsuit over whether signatures could be later removed from a city recall petition.
Debra Gordon brought the suit against the Board of Election Commissioners over the practice. She says she was disappointed with the judge's ruling.
The community spoke loudly in it's unfair and unfortunate that the judicial system did not hear us, Gordon said.
More than 400 Third Ward residents signed the recall petition then later had their names removed by signing an affidavit.
Board of Elections Chairwoman Kimberly Mathis says because there is no time limit on gathering signatures, citizens should have an opportunity to remove their name.
So those voters were permitted to remove their names and the judge upheld the decision that the board had made and decided what we had done was the right thing, Mathis said.
Debra Gordon says she will speak with others involved in the recall effort and decide whether to appeal the decision.