Initiative Update

Activists continue to verify signatures collected in support of the Mission Viejo Right-To-Vote Initiative. After five months of walking neighborhoods and working at storefronts, supporters of the initiative are preparing to take the petitions to the Registrar of Voters.

Prior to submitting the petitions, activists will finish comparing the names and addresses with the Registrar of Voters’ database to make sure signatures will count. Some residents working on the initiative were involved in the 2005 attempt to recall all seven CUSD trustees. After 177,000 signatures were submitted, Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley said one third of them weren’t valid – a percentage so high it was stunning. The lesson learned was not to hand over signatures to Kelley’s office without knowing how many are valid.

In their favor, initiative supporters expect to exceed the minimum requirement by a wide margin. It’s not too late to sign the petition, as signature gatherers will continue to work at storefronts and in neighborhoods throughout the verification process. Please call (949) 837-1997 if you have signatures to turn in or want to sign the petition.