Of the near 1.5 million signatures needed to trigger the gubernatorial recall of Gavin Newsom, over 1.6 million have been verified as of last week.

The signatures have been sent back to the 58 counties from the California Secretary of State, who now have 30 days to reconfigure their respective counts if any signatories wish to retract their decision.

After this 30-day period, signatures are resubmitted to the state. Barring the event that enough people retract their signatures to invalidate the recall, the effort to put it on the ballot will continue.

The California Department of Finance and California Secretary of State will then present a cost estimate for the recall to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, the Governor, the Lt. Governor and the California Secretary of State. This body has 30 days to review the estimate.

If the review is accepted, the California Secretary of State will sign off on proceeding.

The Lt. Governor will then set a date for the recall, no earlier than 60 days from the announcement and no later than 80 days.

According to a Berkley IGS poll released on Feb. 2, 46% of California residents approve of the governor, while 48% disapprove.

The same poll stated that 49% of voters feel that a recall would be a bad thing for the state, as opposed to 36% who feel that it would be a good thing.

In contrast, another Berkley IGS poll conducted in Sept. 2020, found that Newsom had an approval rating of 64% and a disapproval rating of 36%.

The 2020 poll also stated that 45% of Californians supported Newsom, 36% disapproved and 19% were undecided.

Newsom will need more than 50% of constituents to vote “no” to retain his office.

Notable candidates who intend to wrest the governorship from Newsom include transgender activist Caitlyn Jenner, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and John Cox, a businessman who lost to Newsom in 2018.

Matthew Wreden and Ian Hilton can be reached at [email protected].