California has enough valid signatures for Newsom recall, after signers allowed to remove names

The effort to recall California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom still has enough petition signatures to move forward, after signees were allowed 30 days to remove their names, according to the state.

The office of California's Secretary of State Shirley Weber made the announcement Wednesday, allowing a ballot initiative to recall Newsom and elect a new governor if the recall effort gets enough votes.

Per California election laws, petitioners were given 30 business days to request that their signatures be removed. The deadline was June 8.

The petition to recall Newsom started in February 2020 due to opposition against his COVID-19 restrictions. A number of candidates have jumped into the ring to replace Newsom should the recall be successful, including former Olympian and reality show star Caitlyn Jenner.

Only 43 signatures were removed from the petition bringing the total to 1,719,900, beyond the minimum 1,495,709.

As a result, Weber sent a letter to California's Department of Finance, which triggers the next phase of the recall process. The department will estimate the costs of the gubernatorial recall if it held a special election. The department will have another 30 business days to complete the calculations.

After the calculations are completed, they will be sent to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the sSecretary of state and the chairperson of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee by August 5. This will allow the lieutenant governor to set a date for the election  60 to 80 days later, according to The Hill.