The $5.5 billion, California stem cell initiative this afternoon climbed closer to qualifying for the ballot but still remains more 200,000 signatures away from going before voters in the fall.
The measure is an effort to financially rescue the California stem cell agency, which is running out of money. It will begin shutting down this fall without substantial financial assistance.
Today's report from state election officials showed 411,839 verified signatures out of a raw total of 924,189. Backers of the measure are hoping for 685,534 valid signatures to avoid going to a "full check," signature-by-signature count. Such an effort in 58 counties could be so prolonged that the measure would miss the deadline for being placed on the ballot.
The current count is a combination of a hand count and random sampling.
State election officials have set a deadline of June 24 for counties to submit figures. The state's own deadline to complete its work is June 25.
Today's tally is 60 percent of the needed 685,534. It is 110 percent of the legally required figure of 623,212.
So far about 78 percent of the raw signatures have been verified as coming from legally registered voters.
Still missing from the total of verified signatures are San Diego, Riverside and Orange counties, which have a total of 200,546 raw signatures.
Look for an update on the tally tomorrow evening or early Saturday morning right here on the California Stem Cell Report, your source for the last 15 years for all things dealing with the stem cell agency, officially known as California Institute for Regenerative Medicine(CIRM).
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