SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Governor Gavin Newsom is suing Secretary of State Shirley Weber in order to get his party preference added to the recall ballot, according to a court filing first reported by Courthouse News.
Newsom successfully appointed Weber to the position earlier this year.
According to the court filing from Courthouse News, the governor is hoping to get his political affiliation printed next to his name on the recall ballot.
It's a move that is generally allowed, due to Senate Bill 151. The catch is that the governor's attorney made a mistake last year on some paperwork related to the recall and left off the party preference, Courthouse News reported.
The lawsuit referred to it as an "inadvertent but good faith mistake" by his attorney.
Newsom appealed to the Secretary of State's office to fix his attorney's paperwork error and have his party affiliation listed next to his name on the recall ballot, but Weber rejected the request. That rejection prompted the lawsuit, Courthouse News reports, in which Newsom argues Weber can make the change since she hasn't yet certified the recall and an official election date hasn't been announced.
The news comes as Democrats in the legislature approved new governor recall rules Monday that would allow the recall to proceed at least 30 days earlier than existing state law currently permits.
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