Clerical error -- That's what happened in the apparent, sudden setback last week in the effort to qualify for the fall ballot a $5.5 billion initiative to refinance the California stem cell agency.
The problem lay with Fresno County, according to state election officials this morning. Fresno submitted to the state a signature count last Wednesday that really was for another initiative and then withdrew it on Friday.
A new figure has been submitted for Fresno, but the state did not immediately disclose it.
Even if all of Fresno's signatures were disqualified, the stem cell measure could make the ballot if San Diego County validates 78 percent of its raw signatures. That percentage is the average qualification rate so far for all the counties that have already reported.
Under the current process, the initiative needs 685,534 valid signatures of registered voters. State election officials last Friday reported 618,362.
San Diego has 99,899 raw signatures. Seventy-eight percent would be 77,921, which would provide a statewide total of 696,283 when added to Friday's total.
Here is what happened to the number of valid signatures last week. On Wednesday June 17, the California Secretary of State, which is the state's top election office, reported 635,298 valid signatures of registered voters on the petitions seeking to place the bond measure on the ballot.
Late Friday June 19, the secretary of state, however, reported a total of only 618,362 valid signatures with no elaboration on why the number had dropped. The listing of all of 58 California counties showed, however, that the count by Fresno election officials had changed significantly. On Wednesday, Fresno was reported as having 23,175 valid signatures. On Friday, that number been zeroed out and removed.
Counties are responsible for verifying the number of valid signatures on the petitions to place initiatives on the ballot. They report to the state, which ultimately determines whether the proposal will come before voters. The state reports daily online on the number of valid signatures, usually around 5 p.m., when it closes its public operations, but sometimes later.
The process currently underway relies on both an actual count and random samples.
The state has set Wednesday as the deadline for counties to complete their tally. The state's deadline for itself is Thursday.
Look for the next update on the count this evening or early tomorrow 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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