legal authority

“We did not respond ... as there is no legal authority for New California to make this demand,” Orange County Registrar of Voters Bob Page said about the letter in a reply to The Times on Sunday night by email.

As Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times wrote last week, "He has no legal authority. If he loses, he’ll be just another private citizen, urging other private citizens to commit state and federal crimes on his behalf."

In her dissenting statement, Commissioner Melissa Holyoak said the rule not only exceeded the agency’s legal authority but also “incentivizes companies to avoid negative option features that honest businesses and consumers find valuable.”

“We are taking a close look at any additional actions within our staff resources and legal authority,” the statement said.

In a statement, the agency said it “is reviewing its procedures when certificates of veterinary health are sent to the agency in error and is committed to exercising the entirety of its legal authority to hold the sickening and morally-reprehensible perpetrators of underground puppy mills accountable.”