January 30, 2006

"Validity of signatures scrutinized in recall effort"

"An effort to recall City Councilman Paul Luellig could still be alive despite being ruled unsuccessful two weeks ago by the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters.

An analysis of a petition to remove Luellig for allegedly deceiving voters has tentatively determined that 464 signatures ruled invalid by the registrar might be valid, a political consultant said.

If the ongoing analysis finds them valid, those signatures combined with 1,685 approved signatures could surpass the 2,047 names needed to put the recall measure on the ballot.

''We believe there are 2,149 valid signatures,'' said Michael Arno, a Sacramento-area political consultant hired by a citizens' recall committee.

After tabulating the 3,420 names on the petition, the Registrar of Voters ruled in mid-January that 1,735 signatures were invalid.

"There could be a variety of reasons, including improper signatures or addresses, for the signatures to be ruled invalid," said Greg Bennett, voting services manager for the registrar's office.

Posted by Randy Riddle at January 30, 2006 08:57 AM