NAGOYA (Kyodo) An attempt by supporters of Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura to initiate a recall referendum against the municipal assembly failed because they failed to gather the required number of valid signatures of eligible voters for the petition, the city's election board said Wednesday.
The board, which screened 465,602 signatures since their submission for the petition on Oct. 4 after repeated clashes between the mayor and the assembly over a proposed residential tax cut and halving of assembly members' pay, said the number of valid signatures came to 353,791, around 12,000 short of the 365,795 required to initiate the referendum.
The 111,811 signatures ruled invalid included those of people other than eligible voters and those collected through inappropriate methods, according to the board.
Although the signature screening period had been set to end on Oct. 24, the board extended the period for one month to re-examine questionable signatures.
The group supporting Kawamura complained that the huge number of invalidated signatures was attributable to the board's strict policy of rejecting signatures with minor errors.