One of the groups, I don't remember which one, developed the petition and filed it with the Sec. of State, Kevin Sheley. It took about three tries to get it approved and available for use. It doesn't matter who uses the petition, all you have to do is get a copy and circulate it, and send it in to one of the addresses at any of the groups. It doesn't matter. As long as it is the approved petition, anybody can circulate it and get signatures, and mail it to any of the groups for collection. All they do is send the signed petitions on to the Sec. of State, who distributes them to the counties for signature verification.
I've downloaded the petition from the RecallGrayDavis.com site, and made copies. That is Howard Kaloogian's group. Then there is Ted Costa's group, The People's Advocate. They are using the same petition. It would have been very foolish if each group had created its own petition then tried to have it approved by the SOS. I would think in that case each group would have had to get the required number of signatures, would really would have split the effort. The timetable is the same for each group, because it is the petition that is important. The date that the petition is approved starts the clock.
Good info, thanks. I downloaded the petition from the Costas group and have been circulating it. You don't get a full appreciation of how much Davis is despised until you put a petition in front of them. Some of them look like they want to sign it and spit on Davis' name while they're at it.