California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., notified county elections officials Tuesday that petitioners have obtained more than enough signatures to place Proposition 47 amendments on the November ballot.
Proposition 47, a voter-approved initiative passed in 2014, relaxed penalties for drug and theft-related crimes in California and has been blamed for California’s growing theft problem.
Californians for Safer Communities, a bipartisan group made up of law enforcement agencies, elected officials and businesses, said it has collected more than 900,000 signatures in support of a proposed amendment to reform Proposition 47 aimed at increasing penalties for offenders.
On Tuesday, the Secretary of State’s office notified elections officials that the measure had qualified to be placed on the ballot.
Looters congregated at a business establishment in Manhattan Beach, California. (Manhattan Beach Police Department)
To qualify, petitioners will need 5% of the total votes cast for governor in the November 2022 general election, or 546,651 signatures.
The measure may also qualify through a random sampling of petition signatures, if the sampling shows that the number of valid signatures exceeds 110% of the required number, or the estimated number of valid signatures is 601,317.
The group collected a total of 910,441 signatures, and through random sampling 652,100 signatures were deemed valid, exceeding the required threshold.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber notified county elections officials that petitioners have collected enough valid signatures to place the Proposition 47 reform measure on the ballot in November. (AP Photo/Damian Dovergenes)
On June 27, 2024, Weber will certify the initiative for the November 5, 2024 ballot, unless proponents withdraw the measure before certification.
Proposition 47 enacted Many crimes including theft from shopGrand theft and receiving stolen property would be considered a misdemeanor, rather than a felony, if the value of the property does not exceed $950. It also reduced penalties for personal use of most illegal drugs below a certain weight.
Many law enforcement officials have blamed the measure for a rise in thefts and looting incidents in California since the COVID-19 pandemic. Around the same time, California became synonymous with robbery crimes, as videos of groups of thieves brazenly looting stores became popular online.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom has reportedly not supported reform of Proposition 47. (MediaNews Group/East Bay Times via Getty Images)
California Democrats, including Governor Gavin Newsomdo not support this effort and are pushing some public safety bills circulating throughout the state capital that attempt to address organized retail theft, car break-ins and other crimes. Democrats want these bills to go before voters instead of the Proposition 47 reform measure.
Some Democrats He said he plans to add inactivation provisions to proposed public safety bills to prevent them from taking effect if voters approve Proposition 47 reforms. He argues that’s one way to ensure there are no inconsistencies in the law.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the California Democratic Party and Californians.
Newsom’s office told Fox News Digital that California has the toughest limits for prosecutors to charge suspects with thefts up to $950, while other states have higher limits.
Video shows a woman allegedly stealing from a San Francisco Walgreens. (SFStreets415/ Instagram)
Last year, the Democratic governor announced more than $267 million to increase arrests and prosecutions. Organised retail crime across the state. Earlier this year, Newsom recalled how he witnessed a shoplifter steal from a Target in Sacramento. He confronted a store employee shortly after.
“I said, ‘Why didn’t you stop him?’” Newsom said during a Zoom meeting on mental health in January. “He said, ‘Oh, governor.’ I swear to God, on my mother’s grave, true story. ‘The governor lowered the limit, there’s no accountability.’ I said that’s not true.”
Still, the governor’s office said that while Proposition 47 is eligible for the vote today, it won’t be eligible for the vote until June 27th.
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Many law enforcement officials have blamed the measure for a rise in thefts and break-ins in California in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Around the same time, California became synonymous with break-in and robbery crimes, as videos of groups of thieves brazenly looting stores became popular online.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casciano contributed to this report.
