The effort to recall Seattle Councilwoman Kshama Sawant is set to be certified.
“There’s a sufficient number of signatures” for the recall petition to be certified, Kendall Hodson, chief of staff for King County Elections, told The Epoch Times on Thursday.
Election workers were working on finalizing details of the petition but had already confirmed 105 percent of the signature threshold in preparation for any court challenges.
The certification will most likely take place on Thursday, according to Hodson.
Petition organizers needed 10,687 signatures to get their effort verified. They submitted over 6,000 extra. As of 9 a.m. on Thursday, 11,350 had been accepted out of 14,508 reviewed.
Sawant did not respond to a request for comment.
A majority vote would remove the self-described socialist from office.
Critics say she should be recalled because she misused resources to promote a ballot initiative last year and allegedly misused her position when she let hundreds of people into City Hall after hours. They also say she violated the state’s confidential program by leading a march to the home of Mayor Jenny Durkan, a Democrat.
Washington state’s Constitution allows recalls for an official who “has committed some act or acts of malfeasance or misfeasance while in office, or who has violated their oath of office.”
A King County judge said last year that four of the six allegations outlined by recall organizers were legally sufficient and a subsequent appeal to the Washington state Supreme Court was rejected.
The choice of whether to keep Sawant in office falls to voters in Seattle’s District 3. No others can vote in the election, which is projected to take place in December.
Voters elected Sawant in 2013 and she has since won reelection twice.
If Sawant is removed, the Seattle City Council will choose her replacement until the next election.
