Watch CBS News

New Petition Seeking To Recall Gov. Polis Approved For Circulation

(CBS4) -- Another petition to recall Gov. Jared Polis has been approved for circulation. It's the second attempt to recall Polis.

The petition claim Polis has abused his emergency power and exceeded the scope of his powers during the coronavirus pandemic by "confining residents to their homes, forbidding travel, closing businesses and mandating wearing of masks thereby depriving citizens of liberty and property without due process of law."

The petition also claims Polis discriminated against churches and violated the U.S. Constitution by directing houses of worship to close their doors "while allowing 'necessary' locations such as marijuana shops to remain open under his stay at home order."

Additionally, the petition takes issue with Polis directing the spending of $1.6 billion in CARES Act funds without consulting the legislative branch of the Colorado government, and his effort to create temporary rules allowing signatures to be gathered via e-mail and by mail.

RELATED: Colorado Supreme Court Strikes Down Governor's Executive Order On Remote Signature Gathering

Polis briefly mentioned the recall effort during a news conference on Tuesday about the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"We're not gonna let, you know, any election -- there's an election coming up --petitions, recalls, we're never gonna let any of that distract us from growing Colorado's economy, from moving forward, fast with with reopening and removing restrictions," he stated.

polis 9.15
(credit: CBS)

The group behind the petition has 60 days -- until Nov. 13 -- to collect 631,266 signatures. No group in Colorado has ever amassed the number of signatures needed to force a recall election of a governor.

Read the full petition here.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.