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Dan Welby, a spokesman for the LA County Libertarian Party and organizer for Medical Freedom LA, told El American in an interview that the City of Los Angeles has approved the gathering of petitions to repeal the City’s vaccine passport requirement for indoor establishments.
The request for the petition was submitted to the LA City Clerk’s office back in November 2021 and was finally approved Thursday, February 3. The petition drive would need to gather close to 65,000 petition signatures, but the spokesman has said they are aiming to gather 100,000 or more, in case some of the signatures don’t meet requirements.
The group, Medical Freedom LA, would have 120 days to gather the signatures needed and stated that only LA residents registered to vote will be able to sign the petition—but the group says those who do not qualify can still donate, and even help gather signatures regardless of residency.
Once enough signatures are gathered, the group would then bring the petition forward to the City Council, and at that time they can decide to end vaccine passports or deny the petition request and opt instead to have a special election, allowing the decision of vaccine passports to be voted on by LA City residents in a stand-alone election.
“We are not anti-vaccine, we are anti-mandate. Where there is risk, there must be choice,” said Dan Welby when I asked the purpose of the petition. “This is a gross violation of our constitutional rights, and our bodily autonomy.”
The group plans to begin gathering signatures Monday, February 7.
Anthony Cabassa is a Field Correspondent with El American. Before that he did Independent Journalism for 3+ years informing the Hispanic/Latino community with bilingual news updates and video podcasts. He is also a U.S. Veteran of over 10 years in the Coast Guard. He lives in Los Angeles, CA with his wife and 3 children // Anthony Cabassa es Corresponsal de Campo de El American. Antes hizo periodismo independiente durante más de 3 años informando a la comunidad hispana con información bilingüe y pódcasts. También es un veterano de más de 10 años en el Ejército Americano. Vive en Los Ángeles, California, con su esposa y sus tres hijos.