LOS ANGELES (AP) — Backers of a Republican-led campaign to recall Democratic Gov. Gray Davis collected 376,008 signatures as of June 16, the secretary of state reported Tuesday, close to half the signatures needed to get the measure on the ballot.

The Associated Press surveyed 55 of California’s 58 counties on Monday and found 389,337 signatures were being submitted. The sources of discrepancies in some counties’ tallies were not immediately clear.

Recall proponents must collect 897,158 valid signatures by Sept. 2 to get the measure on the ballot. The signatures submitted so far have not been verified as valid. Because a number are likely to be found invalid, political analysts say the recall drive must aim to collect more than 1.2 million signatures.

Under the recall process, counties must report signature totals to the secretary of state every 30 days. Their latest deadline was Monday, for signature collections as of June 16. That was the number made public Tuesday by the secretary of state. At the last deadline, in May, recall supporters reported only 18,590 signatures.

Recall proponents are aiming to collect the needed signatures by the next deadline, July 16, in order to force a special election in the fall. They want to avoid sharing the ballot with the state’s March primary election, the likeliest outcome if they reached their signature goal after July.

The recall accuses Davis of misleading the public about the size of the state’s budget deficit. It is being funded largely by U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, who has contributed $1.15 million so far and is the only declared candidate to replace Davis.

Other potential candidates on the Republican side are actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Los Angeles businessman Bill Simon, who lost to Davis in November. The state’s leading Democrats have said they do not intend to run, but many analysts believe they would reconsider if the measure made the ballot in the fall.

AP-WS-06-24-03 1526EDT