Push to Recall California Governor Enters Final Week

CNSNews.com ^ | 6/30/03 | Robert B. Bluey

[kattracks]

(CNSNews.com) - As the signature drive to oust California Gov. Gray Davis enters its final week, leaders of the recall movement are gearing up for a fight with the Democrat secretary of state over certification of their petitions.

The campaign is moving forward with more than 1 million signatures already, according to groups leading the effort. But as supporters of the recall are planning their victory celebrations on the Fourth of July, they remain fearful that Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, a Democrat like Davis, might find a way to thwart their plans.

Collecting the signatures has been an arduous task since the recall idea was hatched in February. But it was made easier when U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa offered his help. The California Republican, who might be eyeing a run for governor, has contributed more than $1 million to the effort.

Leaders of the recall campaign say it has paid off. They expect to have about 1.3 million signatures when they stop collecting them on July 7. They need 897,156 signatures to qualify for the recall, but not every one they collect is likely to be valid.

Getting the signatures isn't the issue that worries Ted Costa, chief executive officer at People's Advocate, a group that's collected 300,000 signatures thanks in part to its DavisRecall.com website. Costa said Shelley has emerged as a threat.

"He's made it real clear that he's going to drag his feet, and he's going to drag this out for two or three months," Costa said.

Even if the recall proponents can't get a vote this fall as they hope, Costa said he's confident Davis would lose no matter when it was held. The governor's approval ratings are hovering around 27 percent. If a vote weren't held in October or November, it would come in March 2004, when a host of Democrat presidential candidates would be on the ballot for the state's primary.

"[Shelley] thinks that Gray Davis might have a better chance in a March election," Costa said. "But my personal opinion is that people are pissed off. Why would they vote any different in March than they would in October?"

Other recall advocates don't want to take that chance, however. Dave Gilliard, director of Rescue California, the group backed by Issa, said he's prepared to take Shelley to court if he holds up the count. Rescue California says it has nearly 1 million signatures heading into the final week.

Gilliard wants the signatures counted continuously as they are filed, but Shelley hasn't been operating on that premise.

"He's interpreting it differently, basically saying that it's a 30-day count and you stop for 30 days and start again," Gilliard said. "That's just not what the law says."

The secretary of state isn't the only one to stand in the way of the recall effort, Gilliard said. Throughout the signature-gathering process, anti-recall activists have tried to intimidate and block people from signing the petitions, he said.

The group Taxpayers Against the Governor's Recall has posted tips on its website for supporters of Davis to follow when they see a recall drive. The group advises people to "complain to the store manager" that "you are offended by being harassed as you enter their store."

Taxpayers Against the Governor's Recall also offers its own petition, which has already generated about 600,000 signatures, spokesman Nick Velasquez said. The group is funded by an array of different causes, ranging from labor unions and environmentalists to religious leaders and businessmen.

Velasquez said the group does not condone illegal behavior, including threats and intimidation to supporters of the recall movement. He said its supporters merely want to engage in a debate about whether recalling Davis is the right move for California.

"The governor was re-elected to office just seven months ago," Velasquez said. "There's nothing that Californians know now that they didn't know when they elected him."

But as much as anti-recall groups want to halt the effort, Costa predicted it would ultimately be successful.

"It's too little, too late what they're doing," he said. "They tried buying off the signature gatherers, so we formed our own signature-gathering organization. We just powered through it. They haven't been able to stop us."

See Earlier Story:
Campaign to Recall Calif. Governor Helped by Budget Deficit (May 22, 2003)

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[kattracks]

ping

[goldstategop]

Once the 1.5 million signatures have been rounded up, the only question left is when the recall election will be held. We'll know for sure by late July or early August when that will be. Our congratulations to the grassroots for pulling off the impossible!

[babble-on]

is it a foregone conclusion that Shelley will put this off until March?

[American in Israel]

The group Taxpayers Against the Governor's Recall...

I suspect that most in that group do not pay taxes, one half because they are rich, powerful democrats up to their necks in the public feeding trough, the other half because they are welfarites lapping up the overflow from the demmo-rats deconstruction of the states finances. The title of their group is rather ironic...

[Redbob]

Let's see: If I were opposing the recall, I'd advise my sheeple to sign every recall petition possible - with fictitious names and addresses.

Do you suppose there's been any of that going on?

[section9]

A ton of that is going on. You can be damned sure that Davis' people infiltrated the petition crews with their own people. Bogus names and addresses, dead dogs, "Heywood Jablowmie", "A. Hitler", that kind of stuff.

This petition will hit a brick wall when it's submitted to the SOS' Office. Imagine the Republicans' chagrin when Democrats uncover Barney the Dinosaur's mark on several of the address lines.

The Recall is toast, I'm afraid. At worst, for Davis, this will get put off to Democrat Primary Season, when the Rats will be out in force.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for posting this!

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[Uncle Hal]

KSFO had one of the leaders of the recall group on this morning. At this point they have over a million signatures and expect to have 1.2 million by the end of the week. A lot of people gathering signatures are being harrassed by Davis goons.

[.38sw]

I put three petitions with signatures in the mail this morning. My understanding is that the various committees are checking the signatures they get against the voter registration rolls for accuracy, and are finding a high % of valid signatures. It's looking more and more like the recall is a go! Now, we need to keep the pressure on the SoS, Shelley, to keep him from playing games with the process.

[heleny]

If I were opposing the recall, I'd advise my sheeple to sign every recall petition possible - with fictitious names and addresses.
Do you suppose there's been any of that going on?

Probably, but it pales in comparison to the deluge of people who legitimately sign. The recall Davis team (and probably the other groups) discard the obviously wrong signatures, and they compare many of the signatures to voter registration rolls.

Contra Costa County recently verified samples of the recall signatures they received and found about 90% valid, which is an extremely high rate compared to the typical initiative drives that get about 60-75%. (CCC reported 91% on one recall sample and 89% on another.)