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Recall signature wrap-up It took most of the day to get the word out via cellular phone to 1,200 petition circulators, who were told to pack up the card tables and clipboards they had staffed since mid-May at shopping centers from Yuba City to Barstow to the Mexican border. "We're done," said David Gilliard, director of Rescue California, the Republican-backed committee organizing the campaign against the Democratic incumbent. "The only question still out is when the election will be." It could be days or weeks before the California secretary of state's office determines whether at least 897,158 valid voter signatures have been submitted to county elections officials, the minimum required by state law to hold a gubernatorial recall election. Anticipating some invalid signatures from repeat signers or nonvoters, Rescue California aimed to collect at least 1.2 million signatures. The group met that goal over the Independence Day weekend, Gilliard said, with about 900,000 signatures coming from the paid gatherers and 300,000 from direct mail sent to GOP voting households. Gilliard expected thousands more to come in from Republican clubs throughout the state, and from anti-tax activists and a former Republican lawmaker who first called for a recall campaign in February. How quickly the signature validation proceeds, and whether lawsuits are filed over the matter, will decide whether an election is set for October, November or March. Secretary of State Kevin Shelley has told county elections officials that they can take up to 30 days to validate signatures after raw counts have been submitted. Sacramento County's election staff says it may need that extra time. But in many large counties, including San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange, officials say that their computer software allows them to validate at an ongoing and relatively fast pace and that they should not need the extra time. In San Diego, at least, the signatures being submitted by recall supporters also have a high validity rate -- about 87 percent, according to the assistant registrar of voters, Tim McNamara. The governor's supporters would prefer any election be held next spring, when a higher Democratic turnout and a cooler-minded electorate might vote to retain the unpopular governor. Davis' job approval rating is at an all-time low of 21 percent with likely voters, who blame him for the state's $38.2 billion budget shortfall and higher car-registration fees. In U.S. history, only one gubernatorial recall has succeeded, in North Dakota in 1921. Since California's adoption of the recall in 1911, none of 31 attempts to remove a governor has made it to the ballot. Davis went about normal business on Monday, visiting an elementary school in Los Angeles, urging lawmakers to end a budget stalemate and making appointments to regional boards and commissions. "If the people want me to present my credentials one more time, I have no fear of the electorate," he told reporters. "Five times they've elected me to statewide office, twice as governor, and I'm happy to present my credentials and demonstrate the progress we've made." Davis political adviser Roger Salazar said that if the recall qualifies for an election, it merely reflects how much was spent to find conservative Republicans among the state's 35 million residents. Rescue California has been financed mostly by $1.3 million in donations from U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, a San Diego County Republican who wants to replace Davis as governor. "You put enough money behind an effort and you can buy enough signatures to qualify anything for the ballot," Salazar said.
"But the California electorate is
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