A $5.5 billion stem cell initiative this afternoon remained shy of qualifying for California's November ballot with only five business days remaining before the count must be complete.
The proposed ballot measure is aimed at saving the state stem cell agency, which is running out of cash. It will begin closing its doors in the fall without more funds.
State officials today reported 635,298 verified signatures of registered voters, up from yesterday's 610,742. The campaign's goal is 685,534. The qualification rate is steady at about 78 percent.
The measure needs only 50,236 more to hit 685,534. Six counties with a total of 115,400 raw signatures have not completed their verification. The largest is San Diego, with 99,899 unverified. The others are Butte, 6,502; Inyo, 610; Kings, 1,756; San Mateo, 6,491, and Trinity, 142.
The state has set June 24 as the deadline for counties to complete their tally. The state's deadline for itself is June 25.
(It is too late for more persons to sign petitions for the campaign.)
Look for the next update on the count tomorrow evening or early Friday on the California Stem Cell Report, your only independent source of information and news about the stem cell agency for the last 15 years.
Look for the next update on the count tomorrow evening or early Friday on the California Stem Cell Report, your only independent source of information and news about the stem cell agency for the last 15 years.
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