Sacramento, CA–California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber has announced that the threshold of verified signatures reported by counties has been met for the recall of Governor Gavin Newsom.
The valid signatures in the 10th report are 1,626,042, which exceeds the total of 1,495,709 signatures required. Counties still have until April 29 to verify the validity of any remaining signatures.
“This now triggers the next phase of the recall process, a 30-business-day period in which voters may submit written requests to county Registrars of Voters to remove their names from the recall petition,” Secretary Weber said. “A recall election will be held unless a sufficient number of signatures are withdrawn.”
Pursuant to Elections Code section 11108(b), any voter who has signed the recall petition may provide a written request to their county elections official to have their signature removed from the petition between today, April 26 and June 8.
If after this period the recall election still has a sufficient number of signatures, the Department of Finance will have 30 business days to estimate the cost of the recall election. Following that, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee will have 30 calendar days to review and comment on those estimates before the Lieutenant Governor sets the date for the recall election.
The California Secretary of State is responsible for overseeing recalls for state officers, including for constitutional offices (Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, etc.), state legislators, and justices of the Supreme and Appellate Courts.
The proponents’ petition to recall Governor Newsom was approved for circulation by the Secretary of State on June 10, 2020.
Each petition section is required to include specific information, including the proponents’ notice of intention with the statement of grounds for initiating the recall, as well as the governor’s answer.
