Proponents of recalling all Nevada County supervisors had their petitions approved Monday, the latest step in their effort to remove the board.

The petitions’ approval from the county elections office means that recall proponents may begin their 120-day circulation period. Their due date is May 31, Assistant Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters Natalie Adona wrote in an email Monday.

Procedure prepared by the state Office of the Secretary of State for recalling state and local officials states that, if a county officer is sought to be recalled — and their electoral jurisdiction has between 10,000 and 49,999 registered voters — the petition must receive a number of signatures equal to at least 20% of the jurisdiction’s registered voters.

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Adona wrote in an email that the number of signatures required for each of the petitions — 20% of registered voters from the respective supervisorial district — is based on the most recent report of registration, which in this case is from Aug. 30.

Based on that report, she said, the petition for District 1, whose supervisor is Heidi Hall, requires 3,254 signatures. District 2, whose supervisor is Ed Scofield, requires 3,155 signatures; District 3, whose supervisor is Dan Miller, requires 2,829 signatures; District 4, whose supervisor is Sue Hoek, requires 3,101 signatures; and District 5, whose supervisor is Hardy Bullock, requires 2,776 signatures.

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According to state procedure, if proponents bring in a petition for filing and the elections official determines that the number of signatures on it is equal or greater to the number required, the petition shall be accepted for filing.

A signature verification process would then take place, and if the petition is found to have sufficient signatures, the elections official must certify the results to the governing board at its next regular meeting. If it is found to have insufficient signatures, the official must certify that and notify proponents.

NEXT STEPS

If a petition receives a “certificate of sufficiency,” according to state procedure, the governing body will have 14 days to issue an order stating that an election will be held to determine whether the officer named in the petition should be recalled, and if they do not do so, the county elections official should, within five days, set a date for the election.

An election in that case would follow “not less than 88 nor more than 125 days after the issuance of the order.”

Recall proponents released a letter on Friday written by Grass Valley attorney Barry W. Pruett which described the group’s motivation for proposing the recall, as well as its “issues with (the) Nevada County Election Office.”

“By way of their recall petition, proponents seek to recall all five supervisors in Nevada County for the reasons specified in their intent to recall, which allege … that the supervisors failed to reopen Nevada County by promoting lawless lockdowns directly violating religious freedoms and individual liberty,” wrote Pruett.

Each of the county’s five supervisors submitted a rebuttal to the recall in December.

Hoek, for example, stated that the recall “is divisive, expensive, and unnecessary,” while Scofield stated that it is “unwarranted, is a waste of your government’s time and a waste of your taxpayer dollars.” Rebuttals from Miller, Bullock, and Hall expressed similar sentiments, including statements that the recall made false claims.

Victoria Penate is a staff writer with The Union, a sister publication of the Sierra Sun. She can be reached at vpenate@theunion.com