Hearing at the state Supreme Court over Tulsa city council recall election

The fight to stop the planned recall of two Tulsa City Councilors resumes today in Oklahoma City. 6 in the Morning reporter Omar Villafranca says councilors Jim Mautino and Chris Medlock will present

Wednesday, May 18th 2005, 5:43 am

By: News On 6

The fight to stop the planned recall of two Tulsa City Councilors resumes today in Oklahoma City. 6 in the Morning reporter Omar Villafranca says councilors Jim Mautino and Chris Medlock will present their arguments on why there should not be a recall election.

For now, the election is scheduled for July 12th. But at the center of the controversy are the petition signatures. A group calling for the recall gathered more than 1,200 signatures, enough for that election to be held.

But the group against the recall wants the City Clerk to verify every single signature. Putting those signatures side by side wouldn't be difficult, but matching them is another story. The city doesn't have an expert to see if each signature exactly matches the one on file.

The city clerk did not check every signature, but the city charter appears to say the Clerk doesn't have to. That could be the main argument in their appeal to the state Supreme Court, but the decision to go back and verify all the signatures is up to the court.