 |
 -0 |
 |
|
||||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
|
Recall drive has almost half on petition The Davis Recall Committee said it had turned in 429,531 signatures to county elections office as of June 16, an official counting date, but a spot check by the Associated Press and The Chronicle shows that about 400,000 signatures were reported. Thousands of signatures have been received since then, however, and Secretary of State Kevin Shelley is expected to make a formal announcement about the numbers today and again next month. Recall organizers have until Sept. 2 to collect signatures. The dry reporting of official numbers carries an important symbolic message. Recall organizers need to show significant progress to create political momentum and carry them over the threshold. Opponents want to show the recall has peaked among conservative voters and is sputtering. The magic number is 897,158 verified signatures from registered voters. But recall organizers want to collect at least 1.25 million by July 11 -- enough over the legal threshold to qualify for a special election in the fall or winter. Recall organizers blame Davis for misleading the public about the size of the state's budget deficit and mishandling the energy crisis. No gubernatorial recall has ever qualified for the California ballot despite 31 attempts since 1911, but no modern governor has been as unpopular as Davis in public opinion polls. GOP LEADS EFFORT So far, the recall effort is being pushed almost exclusively by Republicans. Nearly all high-level California Democrats, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, have said they oppose the recall and will not run against Davis on a recall ballot. Several Republicans and Green Party candidate Peter Camejo are lining up to run as replacement governor in the event the recall qualifies. Three groups are collecting signatures for the recall campaign, but only Ted Costa, an anti-tax activist in Sacramento, is the official proponent and gatekeeper for the signatures. All petitions must flow through his office, located behind a Krispy Kreme in suburban Sacramento. As of Monday morning, Costa said he sent county registrars 600,944 signatures for verification -- about half of what is considered comfortable to account for nonregistered voters and duplicate signatures that would be thrown out. The Associated Press said it contacted the clerk's offices of all 58 counties and received responses from all except Placer, Tehama and Trinity. The total signatures collected as of June 16 by the other 55 counties was 389, 337, the AP reported. That is less than the 429,531 Costa's group reported sending as of mid-June, but some petitions may have been delayed in the mail. Los Angeles County election officials told The Chronicle they reported 69, 569 signatures were received between May 20 and June 16. Recall organizers said last week they sent Los Angeles County 62,300 signatures. Organizers claimed to have sent Contra Costa County 5,469 signatures; the county registrar's office told The Chronicle they had received 5,470. Contra Costa County also did its own verification to see how many of the recall signatures were coming from registered voters. They found that 88.6 percent were valid signatures, a good sign that petition gatherers are hitting their mark. "This is slightly higher than it would be under an initiative petition," said Candy Lopez, assistant county registrar. FINANCED BY ISSA Most of the signatures are being collected by the Rescue California committee funded in large part by Rep. Darrell Issa, a San Diego County Republican who wants to replace Davis.
Issa has donated $1.15
|
|
|
