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Only Two Elections for Santa Barbara in an Off Year

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Shirley Weber announced what everyone already knew: There are enough signatures on recall petitions — 1,719,900 to be precise — to put the governor's recall on a statewide ballot.

Only Two Elections for Santa Barbara in an Off Year

This article was originally posted on Newsmakers with Jerry Roberts.

On Joe Holland's office wall hangs a framed copy of the 2003 recall ballot that ousted Governor Gray Davis — including the names of Arnold Schwarzenegger and 134 other politicos, media hacks, low-rent movie stars, sex workers, and sundry self-promoters who signed up to replace him.

For Holland, the registrar of voters for Santa Barbara County (also: county clerk, recorder, and assessor), it's not only a personal memento of the first election that he oversaw but also a professional reminder to leave no detail overlooked in staging one.