Webster Lincoln, an East Palo Alto resident who ran an unsuccessful first-time bid for a City Council seat, is accusing Antonio Lopez of electioneering and asking the San Mateo County Superior Court to annul Lopez's election certification, according to a lawsuit filed Dec. 7.

The suit claims that Lopez violated the state election code by campaigning within 100 feet of a vote center on Nov. 3, while offering residents incentives to vote in the form of free tacos.

"Lopez made a visible display of himself by so loitering and campaigning and audibly disseminated information advocating for his candidacy, and displaying his name, likeness and logo," the lawsuit states.

Defendants of the suit include Lopez and East Palo Alto City Clerk Walfred Solorzano, the man responsible for certifying the council election results.

Lopez has maintained that he campaigned within legal capacity. On Election Day, the 26-year-old, first-time candidate hosted an event near the Saint Francis of Assisi Church, one of three locations of voting centers in East Palo Alto, where attendees were given free tacos.

Lopez and a few others publicized the event on social media beforehand, calling it an "Election Day Taquiza" with the caption: "Vote & eat free tacos."

Responding to several complaints from residents, Solorzano said in previous interviews that he and a few county election officials visited the voting center and found that Lopez was a proper distance away from the vote center. The city staff member also said that he did not see any "quid pro quo" between the candidate and voters.

The race was one of the closest calls in the city's recent election history. Lopez, a Stanford University doctorate candidate, secured one of three seats that were open this year by just 69 votes, with Lincoln, a 33-year old data scientist for Genentech, falling just short.

The results of the election weren't immediately clear. On election night, Lincoln appeared well on his way to victory, unseating two-term incumbent Larry Moody, who entered the race with a long history of community service in the city but found himself relegated to sixth place. But Lopez steadily closed the gap in the following days, taking a lead over Lincoln on Nov. 11.

Lopez said his success came in part due to his sustained campaign efforts up until the polls closed at 8 p.m.

"Every door knock mattered," he told the Weekly.

Lincoln's lawsuit to overturn Lopez's win is not the only one he's filed over the race. Another lawsuit filed by him, his mother and grandmother accuses another East Palo Alto resident of libel.

Out of the seven running candidates in this election, Lincoln arguably had the most question marks hanging over his run for office. Lincoln's campaign drew fire when local residents on social media began to bring up the candidate's family's ties to the Palo Alto Park Mutual Water Company, where his mother Niambi Lincoln is general manager and his grandmother Katherine Loudd is the treasurer and member of the board of directors.

(The water company has long been a controversial presence in the city, facing allegations of election fraud and management issues, which were outlined in an expose by the Weekly's sister paper The Almanac.)

One resident in particular, Isaiah Pekary, began sharing posts on social media urging residents not to vote for Lincoln due to his family's ties to the water company.

"Don't let this family get more power to hurt this community," Pekary wrote. Pekary later publicly retracted his statements on the same forums, admitting that Lincoln himself had no direct ties to the company.

But Lincoln, his mother and grandmother are now suing Pekary for libel and inflicting "emotional distress."

Aside from Pekary's now-retracted statements, other residents baselessly claimed Lincoln did not live in East Palo Alto, a requirement for candidacy. But Albert Serrato, Chief Deputy District Attorney of San Mateo County, confirmed to the Weekly that Lincoln was in fact an East Palo Alto resident.