The leaders behind the movement to recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom say they have the necessary signatures to force a vote.
On Sunday, they said the movement has collected 1.95 million signatures with a little more than a week before the deadline, according to the Sacramento Bee. However, state and county officials have yet to verify the signers.
NEWSOM PUSHES CALIFORNIANS TO THE BRINK
The Secretary of State’s Office recently announced that 83% of the signatures were valid in early February. At that time, slightly less than 1.1 million signatures were collected, and just under 800,000 had been verified, while about 130,000 were found to be invalid. It is unknown if the leaders will still have the necessary signatures to force the vote once the verification process is complete.
“I don’t think you’ve ever seen a volunteer movement like this,” Mike Netter, a supporter of the recall, said at the press conference where they announced their latest signature totals. “It’s literally people from all walks of life, all parties, all religions. We have a diversity across the board collecting and united [on] one thing, and that’s the fact that California needs a new governor.”
To trigger a recall election, the group needs to collect, and officials need to verify, 1,497,709 valid signatures, according to the recall petition’s website. The deadline to do so is March 17.
“We have cleared another milestone, and now we are entering the final stretch of this part of the official campaign to remove California Gov. Gavin Newsom from power and office,” Orrin Heatlie, chairman of the California Patriot Coalition, Recall Gavin 2020 Committee, said.
Newsom’s coronavirus policies, and his failure to abide by them, prompted the recall effort last year, and it hasn’t been a completely partisan effort.
California’s recall provision permits the ballot to pose two questions to voters: a referendum on whether the governor should be recalled and who should replace the incumbent. There is no limit to the number of challengers who can run nor any primary to regulate ballot placement.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Newsom, a Democrat, took office in 2019 after comfortably defeating his GOP challenger John Cox in the 2018 gubernatorial race. Before that, he was lieutenant governor and mayor of San Francisco.
