The Secretary of State approved the signature gathering on Tuesday, indicating that the most recent effort to recall California Governor Gavin Newsom is moving forward.
In a statement published on Tuesday, Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s office said that petitions for Governor Gavin Newsom’s recall had been approved for distribution.
As per the state legislation, for the recall to be considered, its backers must gather 1,311,963 legitimate signatures between March 26 and September 3.
Recall votes may only be started when a minimum number of signatures are gathered. This figure is computed as 12% of the votes in the most recent governor’s race.
According to the document, signatures from five or more counties must total at least 1% of the previous vote cast for the governor for the signatures to be deemed legitimate.
Rescue California claims that Newsom has prioritized his presidential aspirations over the state’s interests. The governor came under heavy fire from the organization for the significant budget imbalance and the urgent problems with immigration, public safety, and education. On the website of Rescue California, it is stated that Newsom instituted a policy that costs taxpayers $3 billion annually and offers free healthcare to 700,000 undocumented immigrants. At the same time, funding for vital programs that assist the homeless, veterans, school-age children, and the disabled is cut.
The organization said California kids suffered due to the governor’s decision to keep schools closed during COVID, falling behind in critical subjects like language and arithmetic.
They accused Newsom of causing the state’s homelessness problem.
The last two years have seen a sharp increase in the number of homeless people, a spike in crime, a worrying degree of student learning loss, and a sharp change in the country’s financial situation from a multibillion-dollar surplus to a $70 billion deficit.
After almost 1.5 million Californians signed a recall petition, Newsom fought against a recall attempt in a special election in 2021. The recall effort was prompted by dissatisfaction among some segments of the Californian population with the governor’s statewide actions during the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020.
Because most Californians voted against recalling Newsom in September 2021, he could stay in office.