Linn County Clerk Steve Druckenmiller announced on Wednesday that enough signatures had been verified to trigger a recall election on Oct. 7 of Lebanon School Board chair Josh Wineteer and vice chair Rick Alexander.

Alexander and Wineteer each have until Sept.15 to either resign or submit a 200-word statement addressing the allegations made about their performance in the recall petition. The board members' statements as well as the statement justifying the recall by the chief petitioners will appear on the ballot.

The Lebanon Citizens Alliance for a Responsible Education System(CARES) began a recall effort against Wineteer and Alexander on June 5, alleging the two had consistently violated board policy, failed to act in the best interest of the school district and had pursued a personal agenda against the school district administration. Wineteer and Alexander have denied the allegations and accused CARES of using false statements to coax voters into signing the recall petitions.

Warren Beeson, chief petitioner for the Alexander recall, and Joyce Weatherly, chief petitioner for the Wineteer recall, each turned in about 2,100 signatures to the clerk's office on Sept. 3. Druckenmiller said he had his staff quit counting after they had verified over 1,500 signatures on each recall petition, well above the 1,398 required to force an election.

Druckenmiller had 35 days to call the election after the Sept. 15 deadline for statements. The clerk said previously that if enough signatures were verified, he would call the election as soon as possible to avoid interfering with the Nov. 4 general election.

The date of the general election was corrected in the online version of this article.