It looks like a ballot measure to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom is getting closer to going to voters based on the number of signatures already gathered.

Aaron Bate, who is coordinator for the recall effort in El Dorado County, said in a virtual meeting with other recall organizers from around the state this week that 1.927 million signatures have been collected as of March 3. Needed are 1.5 million verified signatures to get the measure on the ballot.

Bate said 1.512 million signatures were turned into the California Secretary of State’s Office, which will verify the signatures. Out of roughly 1.1 million processed signatures, 668,202 (83.7%) have been validated, according to the latest data released by the Secretary of State’s Office Feb. 5.

Volunteers continue to collect an additional 100,000 signatures a week and Bate said he expects the recall effort will break two million signatures by the March 17 deadline to turn them into the state.

Recall organizers said they are also using the accounting firm GOCO to verify signatures. Bate said 1.668 million signatures have been validated with thousands more in the pipeline.

Calling the response in El Dorado County “amazing,” Bate said the goal was to collect 10,732 signatures. Instead, 21,844 have been collected so far.

An effort that is attracting people from across the political spectrum, Bate said Democrats, Independents as well as Republicans are signing the petition.

He said reasons expressed for signing include higher taxes, Newsom not following his own rules (i.e. gathering for a party at the French Laundry restaurant), his ordering shutdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic and keeping some schools in the state closed while his own children reportedly attended private schools.