The Berrien County Clerk’s office has put out word that a petition drive to recall two members of the Lakeshore Public Schools Board of Education has failed.
The elections administrator tells us the drive fell short of the number of signatures needed to get the recall question on the November ballot. The two board members targeted were President Jason Beckrow and Trustee Rachel Wade.
The clerk’s office says the petition drive would have needed to submit 2,165 valid signatures to succeed, and while the filers turned in around 2,400 signatures for both board members, hundreds of signatures were determined invalid.
Reasons to deem a signature invalid include if the circulator date on the petition was prior to the date the signature was obtained or if someone signed twice, which invalidates both signatures.
The filers could try again, but they would have to start over from the beginning by submitting new recall language. It was local clerk’s office that determined the validity of signatures, and not the county clerk’s office.
As for other recall efforts around Berrien County this year, we’re still waiting for signatures to be turned in for recall efforts at school districts in St. Joseph and Watervliet. If either effort turns in enough, the recall election would be next May.
