Accountable Arizona would need to collect more than 400,000 additional signatures by Jan. 16 to force a special election.
By Maria Polletta | Arizona Republic
A nonpartisan group that sought to recall Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has suspended its efforts, deeming it “impossible” to safely gather enough signatures as infections surge.
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Accountable Arizona would need to collect more than 400,000 additional signatures by Jan. 16 to force a special election. It took the group three-plus months to gather the roughly 150,000 signatures it already has.
“Our organization is all volunteer, and we do not feel comfortable continuing to send our volunteers out to collect signatures,” the campaign said in a statement released Tuesday, stressing that “40% of the total COVID-19 cases in Arizona this year have come in the last five weeks alone.”
“It is clear to us Ducey and (state Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara) Christ have no desire to slow the spread of COVID-19, and their only strategy is one of willful fecklessness,” the group said. “Meanwhile, Arizonans are being required to just accept thousands of their friends, family, and neighbors will die each month.”
The group also noted volunteers had faced other threats to their safety, including being “met with harassment from anti-maskers at every signing location we hold.”
