According to this AP story, a group of Davis supporters is challenging the recall petitions, alleging that

some signatures were gathered by non-California voters and that some were not

properly witnessed.

The recall effort has more than twice the amount of signatures necessary. It’s

doubtful a recall can be avoided, but one can certainly be delayed. As the last

paragraph notes, the longer the wait the better: If the recall can be tied to a

March Democratic primary, then Davis’s chances increase greatly (especially if

the memory of a butt-kicking Ahnuld in T-3 has faded). Thankfully, the office

of the (Democratic) secretary of state has indicated that it will not throw out

petitions signed in good faith by legitimate voters.

I’ve not yet made up my mind about the whole recall effort; I’m usually

distrustful of such initiatives, relics of the progressive era. The voters had

their chance to recall him in the last election and failed, by a somewhat wide

margin, to do so. That said, it’s curious that their hopes seem to be that

people not registered to vote in California circulated the petitions. Shouldn’t

it be more important whether the people who SIGNED the petition are registered

to vote in California? Besides, since when are California Democrats so strict

about people being registered citizens of the state?