JOHN DAY — The backers of a campaign to recall John Day’s mayor are going to have to wait until late next week before they know if they’ve collected enough valid signatures to force an election on the matter.

Grant County Clerk Brenda Percy said that the Committee to Recall Mayor Heather Rookstool had submitted enough unverified signatures to meet the threshold necessary to put a recall election on the ballot but that she would not begin verifying signatures until after the Thanksgiving holiday. The group submitted the signatures to Percy on Nov. 17.

Needing a minimum of 91 valid voter signatures for the recall to proceed, the group gathered 139 signatures over the course of two days.

When some of the signatures were gathered is a subject of contention for Rookstool and her supporters, who allege signatures were being gathered prior to the approval of the recall effort, which would be a violation of state elections law.

Percy said there have been no elections law violations that she knows of.

Percy said she will begin verifying the signatures next week and that the signature verification process should be concluded by the end of the week. Percy has 30 days from the time signatures are submitted to complete the verification process.

If there aren’t enough verified signatures once verification is complete, the Committee to Recall Mayor Heather Rookstool would still have time to collect more, Percy said. Under state elections law, petitioners have 90 days from the time their petition is approved to gather and submit signatures for verification.