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Seijas Recall Signatures Certified

MIAMI (CBS4) - Just days after Miami-Dade County Clerk Harvey Ruvin certified the recall for Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez; Ruvin announced Thursday that he had certified the recall of Miami-Dade County Commissioner Natacha Seijas.

The total number of signatures required to validate the petition is 3,591. After canvassing the signatures that were submitted, Ruvin's office found 4,373 valid signatures.

Seijas angrily responded to the recall certification in a statement that questioned Ruvin's integrity.

"It does raise concerns that the Clerk's office was able to complete this rigorous process in just a couple of days - right before Christmas," Seijas wrote in a statement. "My review of his hasty work will begin in earnest after the holidays."

Seijas' statement continued by making a veiled hint at racism being behind her recall, "As a Cuban-American woman, I accept that there are elements of this community who resent my presence on the board."

When referring to Braman, Seijas said she had treated Norman Braman with respect and that "his animosity toward me is simply unfathomable."

Braman began and financed the recall effort against Mayor Alvarez. He began the recall after the Commission voted to increase property taxes, in some cases by double digits, in the new year.

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