A supplemental petition filed by the petitioner seeking to initiate a recall election of City Councilor Olga Pedroza, District 3, lacked the necessary number of valid signatures. It's the second failure for the group New Mexicans For A Better Tomorrow, which also failed in its recall attempt of District 5 Councilor Gill Sorg.
A total of 949 valid signatures were required to certify the petition for a recall election. A total of 704 valid signatures were verified today by the Las Cruces City Clerk’s office – 245 valid signatures short of the required number.
The initial petition filed February 6, contained 586 valid signatures. The supplemental recall petition filed April 2, contained 351 valid signatures, which brought the new total to 937.
The City Clerk’s office received 285 requests from voters who signed the initial petition to have their names removed. Only 233 signatures were eligible to be withdrawn, which brought the valid number of signatures to 704.
A supplemental petition in the recall effort of District 4 City Councilor Nathan Small was filed April 6. The city clerk’s office has five working days to certify the supplemental petition. The certification is expected to be completed by 5 p.m. April 13, 2015.
Information from city of Las Cruces