Opponents and proponents of Governor Gavin Newsom’s Prop. 1 mental health bond measure are seeking to correct rejected ballots from the March 5 primary — usually rejected due to a voter’s missing signature or a mismatched signature — as the fate of Prop. 1 hangs by a razor-thin margin.
Prop. 1 was backed by 50.1% of voters and opposed by 49.9%, according to the March 16 update from the secretary of state’s office. That leaves just 20,000 votes, in a state with 22 million registered voters, standing between its passage and its failure. The opposition campaign estimates that upwards of 110,000 disqualified ballots could be corrected and counted.
Late last week, Governor Gavin Newsom urged Democratic voters to correct ballot signature issues to ensure that his $6.4 billion bond measure actually passes, Politico reported. On Thursday evening, he emailed supporters of Prop. 1, asking them to volunteer to reach out to Democrats whose ballots had been rejected.
If passed, Prop. 1 would direct $4.4 billion to create 10,000 new mental health beds and $2 billion for homeless housing projects. It would also require counties to spend 30% of revenue from the Mental Health Services Act on housing.
“This ballot initiative is so close that your commitment to volunteer could mean the difference between people getting off the streets and into the treatment they need… or not,” Newsom stated in his email to supporters. “Truly. It is that close.”
On Monday morning, Californians Against Prop. 1 revived their campaign — to also urge voters to “cure” their disqualified ballots. On March 12 the opposition campaign conceded likely defeat, but are now revoking that call until the ballot correction effort is completed.
“We believe all ballots should be counted,” said Paul Simmons, a director of Californians Against Prop. 1, in a statement. “We know that many Democrats voted against Prop. 1, so the governor’s effort is no slam dunk. If you’re a…
Read the full article here
