Jeremy B. White reports at The Sacramento Bee:
Opponents of California’s new mandatory vaccine law have suffered another defeat, failing to force a recall election of the senator who championed the law.
In carrying a law requiring vaccines for all school children, Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, drew the animus of parents who believe vaccines are unsafe and the law an assault on parental rights. Pan’s office received death threats during the debate.
After Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 277, opponents turned to an attempt to recall Pan. Needing to gather 35,926 signatures by Dec. 31, they submitted none in Sacramento County or in Yolo County, which contain Pan’s 6th Senate district.
“Not a single signature,” said Yolo County assistant clerk-recorder Susan Patenaude-Vigil.
In a statement, Pan called the defeat a “ victory of science over the politics of fear and intimidation” and castigated “anti-vaccination zealots” who “used fear, intimidation and discredited information to try to defeat our bill.”Last year, a referendum to overturn the law also failed to get enough signatures
