California Officials Get Enough Signatures to Force Recall Election

VOA - Officials in California say they have enough signatures to force a special election which could recall Democratic governor Gray Davis.

California's secretary of state, Kevin Shelley, said Wednesday his office certified well above the requirement of 900,000 signatures to put a no-confidence vote on Mr. Gray on the ballot as soon as September.

It will be the nation's first gubernatorial recall election in 82 years, and the first one ever in California.

California Republicans have been leading a recall drive to remove Mr. Davis from office. He is under fire from political enemies and voters over the state's $38 billion budget deficit, and his popularity has sunk to new lows.

If voters force Mr. Davis out of office, they will have to choose his replacement. Besides Republican state representative Darrell Issa, who financed the recall drive, other potential Republican candidates include Bill Simon, whom Mr. Davis narrowly beat in November, and Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Potential Democratic candidates include Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Mr. Davis began a second four-year term in January that ends in 2007.

Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.