Written by Natalia Toliver
Democrats have pulled back on a bill that would have released the names of voters who signed a recall petition.
State Senator Josh Newman pulled back his bill after receiving serious backlash from citizens. They stressed it being a violation of their right to privacy, which is protected under the Fourth Amendment.
“The environment is so charged around the recall that it made it hard to have a thoughtful discussion around this bill,” Newman said.
Newman’s proposal would have allowed the elected officials who are being recalled to see the names of those who signed the petition. Then, they could contact those people and confirm that signing the recall is what they intended to do.
Orrin Heatlie, leader of the recall against Governor Gavin Newsom stated, “This is an outright attack on people’s right to privacy and serves only to intimidate those would-be petitioners from signing or goad people who signed to rescind their signatures in fear of retaliation or retribution.”
State Assemblyman Kevin Kiley also came out against the bill:
The bill to expose the name and address of Recall petition signers has been withdrawn. Thanks to everyone who spoke out against this latest abuse.
— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) April 20, 2021
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