The petition seeking to recall Johnstown Mayor Michael Duncan fell 11 signatures short of the number required to advance during its initial review, according to Town Clerk Meghan Martinez.Martinez told the Johnstown Republic that 479 of the 559 signatures submitted were found valid and accepted.
Another 80 signatures were not allowed for various reasons, including signers who were not eligible, were not registered in Johnstown, or whose registration information did not match the voter record. Johnstown’s Home Rule Charter requires a mayoral recall petition to contain signatures from registered Town electors equal to at least 25% of the votes cast for that office in the election in which the mayor was elected. The Town Clerk previously calculated that requirement at 490 valid signatures.
The result means the petition did not meet the 490-signature threshold in its initial review. Recall organizers have 15 days after Monday’s determination of insufficiency to make amendments permitted under Colorado law and refile the petition.
Under C.R.S. § 31-4-503(3)(c), a recall petition determined not sufficient may be withdrawn by a majority of the recall committee and amended within 15 days by adding required information relating to petition signers or attaching proper circulator affidavits before being refiled as an original petition. The municipal clerk then has four business days to issue a new initial determination on a refiled petition.
The Johnstown Town Council also appointed an outside administrative hearing officer Monday for election-related matters. The Republic reported that Council selected Ian McCargar in a 5-0 vote after Duncan recused himself before the item was considered. The Town did not describe McCargar’s appointment as limited to the current recall effort.
The appointment could become relevant if a formal protest is filed concerning the recall petition, including any amended and refiled petition, or in another election matter. Colorado law provides for a hearing officer to determine petition sufficiency when a protest is filed and allows certain parties to seek district-court review of that determination.
The Republic previously reported that recall organizers submitted 559 signatures by the Sept. 15 deadline, 69 more than the minimum number required if all had been valid. At the time, the signatures had not yet been reviewed. See “Johnstown Mayor Recall Petition Submitted With 559 Signatures.”
Earlier reporting also examined the allegations underlying the recall effort and the Town records associated with them in “Records Complicate Key Claims Behind Recall Effort Against Johnstown Mayor Michael Duncan.”
The Town Clerk’s initial determination does not end the recall effort. Organizers may attempt to cure permitted deficiencies within the statutory period and refile the petition, after which the Clerk would conduct another sufficiency review.
For now, the confirmed initial count is 479 valid signatures — 11 fewer than the 490 required.
