The California gubernatorial recall election is likely to go ahead after organisers behind the effort to boot governor Gavin Newsom out of office indicated that they have managed to collect over two million signatures, well over the threshold of 1.5 million to qualify for a recall.
Organisers say they had sent in 2.1 million signatures by the deadline on Wednesday and if the same rate of validity holds for the last batch of signatures as the initial shipments they will clear the bar with some margin to spare.
The first count of valid signatures after the passing of the deadline came from the office of the California Secretary of State on Friday. Before 11 March, recall supporters had collected and sent in 1.2 million valid signatures at a validity rate of 82 per cent, Politico reported.
The state had not yet counted another 380,000 signatures, which would cross the bar if they hold the same rate of validity. Organisers say that they have submitted even more signatures, bringing the total to 2.1 million. The bar for a recall to happen could be surpassed early next month, The LA Times writes.
The overwhelming likelihood that a recall election will take place was finally acknowledged by Mr Newsom on Tuesday when he told reporters: “The reality is, looks like it’s going on the ballot.”
