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To: Travis McGee
Travis McGee said: "Sounds good to me, where do I sign it?"

Go to the "unofficial" web site in the main article. Download the proper county PDF file and the instruction sheet. Use a letter-quality printer. Follow the instructions. Make sure the one page petition looks just like the one-page PDF as viewed on your computer.

You can witness your own signature and those of other registered voters. Get your family and friends to sign and collect signatures. It's healthy and fun!

I've been looking for a good excuse to post another article such as this one next week to keep the effort visible. A good topic for such an article would be a brief discussion of the "Initiative, Referendum, and Recall" mechanisms built into the California Constitution.

I sense that some Freepers, even those from California, are unfamiliar with these mechanisms.

The "Recall" process allows for the recall of elected officials (probably only state level). An interested party has to follow a procedure, probably through the Secretary of State, to initiate a recall petition drive. There is a mandatory form for petitions and a number of signers required for a successful petition drive. The number of signers required is based, I believe, on the number of voters for governor at the most recent general election.

There is a limited amount of time after approval of the petition drive which is allowed to collect the signatures.

Signatures must be gathered by county, because only registered voters in California may sign. The promoters, if they believe that they have the necessary number of signatures, will, at the end of the drive, submit each county's signatures to that county's Registrar of Voters.

The Registrar of Voters in each county checks the validity of some or possibly all of the submitted signatures and reports the total to the Secretary of State. If the required number of signatures has been gathered statewide, then a Recall Election is scheduled. All voters in California can vote to recall or not recall. Whichever side gets the most votes, dictates whether the official loses his office.

This is exactly what just happened to Gray Davis.

"Referendum" is a similar process, but is a mechanism aimed at repealing an already passed law.

"Initiative", which is the process being used for this RKBA Constitutional Amendment, allows for the creation of new legislation or amendment of the Constitution.

Anyone in the state may obtain and circulate petitions. Only registered voters in one particular county may sign any one petition form. The person circulating that petition may be from a different county. The "Circulator" signs at the bottom to having witnessed the signatures.

All the petitions get mailed to a central location run by the original promoters of the drive. They make the decision to submit petitions to the individual counties. That same promoter is the safest source of petition forms.

Some of the above was material from a required High School Civics class (Class of '66). Some from recent current events. My apologies for any errors.

63 posted on 03/11/2004 12:53:44 PM PST by William Tell
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To: William Tell
Thanks for your efforts on this!
88 posted on 03/11/2004 5:00:39 PM PST by Travis McGee (----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
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