A Fifth Appellate District Court ruling late Wednesday denied the city's appeal to stop the recall election of its mayor and three council members.
"I've been hearing people tell me that this is historical, that this is unprecedented," said Delilah Barajas, a recall advocate.
The dispute centers on whether Kings County had the authority to conduct the recall election.
The city has argued the election was not properly sanctioned, while the county has maintained it had the legal authority to proceed.
Voters cast ballots in late April, but the process was halted amid ongoing litigation.
At this point, both of the city's appeals have been denied in court.
"It's been a long time coming. We knew the citizens of Avenal knew we don't want this administration anymore," Barajas said.
Because of the legal challenges, the ballots were ordered to be sequestered and not counted.
With the appellate court's latest decision, the county's registrar of voters can now move forward with processing the ballots and certifying the results.
Avenal City Manager Antony Lopez said the city continues to oppose the election.
"The city still maintains its position that this is an illegal election, something that was not sanctioned by the city," Lopez said.
According to the Kings County elections website, preliminary figures show strong support for the recalls: 84% of voters cast ballots to recall Mayor Preciado, about 85% supported removing Council member Gamez, and more than 80% favored ousting Council members Hernandez and Reynosa.
Barajas said those numbers reflect the will of residents.
"The people of Avenal have spoken, we stood up, we're united and it's done," she said.
However, city officials say the legal fight is not over. Lopez said Avenal is still awaiting a decision on another pending lawsuit and may continue to challenge the election in higher courts.
"This is an unfortunate distraction, but we still want to see done legally correctly," Lopez said. "The city is still weighing all legal options and potentially taking it as far as the California Supreme Court."
Avenal City Council members were expected to attend a scheduled meeting Thursday evening as the situation continues to evolve.
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