With one month to submit signatures, where the effort to recall Governor Newsom stands
![Governor Newsom](https://kion546.b-cdn.net/2021/02/MGN_1280x720_01218B00-VWTJP-860x484.jpg)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KION)
The latest report from the California Secretary of State's office shows the effort to recall Governor Gavin Newsom (D) remains at a distance, but recall organizers say they have collected far more signatures than what has been submitted so far.
Friday morning, the Secretary of State's monthly update for the "Recall of Governor Gavin Newsom" shows 668,202 validated signatures, with 1,495,709 total needed to place the recall on a ballot.
The number of valid signatures is a high percentage of what has been verified so far.
- Signatures verified: 798,310
- % validated: 83%
1,094,457 signatures are listed as being "received," meaning there are about 296 thousand left to go through the verification process.
The deadline to submit signatures is March 17th.
The report published today shows that the number of validated signatures isn't even at the halfway point to what is required. However, the report only includes signatures received up to February 5th, so the numbers trail what organizers actually have.
In a press release Wednesday, recall organizers announced they have collected more than 1,689,000 signatures.
The final state status report is Monday, April 19, 2021.
Two recent polls show the vote to recall Governor Newsom could be tight.
A February 2nd publication by the Public Policy Institute of California reported that 54 percent of people surveyed approve "the way that Gavin Newsom is handling his job as governor of California." 36 percent disapprove and 10 percent "don't know."
Another study published on February 2nd was from the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies. Only 46 percent of surveyed registered voters said they approve of " Gavin Newsom’s job performance as Governor." 48 percent said they disapprove. Six percent had "no opinion."
However, the vote to recall the governor showed a much different result. Just 36 percent of voters surveyed said they would vote "yes to recall" Governor Newsom if a special election were held that day. 45 percent said said "no." 19 percent were "undecided."