FLINT, MI - Organizers of a recall effort against Gov. Rick Snyder plan on using the March 8 presidential primary as a launching point in efforts to collect hundreds of thousands of signatures needed to get the language on a ballot.

The recall petition that's been approved states the reasoning as "Governor Richard D. Snyder declared a state of emergency in the County of Genesee and the City of Flint pursuant to the constitution of the state of Michigan and provisions of Act No. 390 of the Public Acts of 1976, filed with the Secretary of State on January 5, 2016, and ending on February 1, 2016, unless extended as provided by Act No. 390."

But organizers still need to collect the 789,133 signatures in 60 days within a 180-day window to get the item placed on a future ballot.

An effort will be made to have volunteers at polling sites around the state next week, as well as Easter Sunday at churches.

Detroit pastor and activist David Alexander Bullock, who submitted the recall language was joined Monday at House of Prayer Missionary Baptist Church by activist Quincy Murphy, Flint resident and activist Arthur Woodson, and attorney Herbert Sanders, for a rally and press conference.

Bullock said it's their hope to have 400,000 signatures, slightly more than half the amounted needed, by March 27, the day after Easter Sunday.

"It will be a symbol, a sign that we are serious about justice for Flint, about democracy for Michigan, and about recall for Ricky," he said.

Anna Heaton, deputy press secretary for Snyder, said "The Governor is focused on solutions in Flint and delivering resources the residents need. He understands people are frustrated and angry, and he has apologized. But significant progress is being made in delivering safe drinking water in Flint."

"We are going to continue working every day on Flint's recovery," she said.

Several other recall petitions against the governor submitted by Murphy were recently rejected.

A second recall petition has also been approved by the Board of State Canvassers, but it deals with Snyder creating the State School Reform/Redesign Office.

While they will continue to ask for Snyder's resignation, which the governor has said will not happen, Woodson questions how the trust can be repaired with the people on the city when work has not begun on replacing infrastructure.

"He's sitting back trying to wait us out and re-coat the pipes," said Woodson. "Re-coat the pipes so we can drink out of those same pipes that we will not know what will happen later on down the road."

An infrastructure study is currently being conducted by Flint-based Rowe Professional Services, following an agreement with the state, to identify all service lines in the city and replace 30 lead lines by March 15.

Legal consultation would be provided if needed by the recall organizers, Sanders said, while noting a brief is due by March 25 to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati regarding an ongoing lawsuit about the constitutionality of the emergency manager law.

The assembled group argued the issue expands beyond Flint, with Bullock and Sanders, referencing emergency managers in other cities and school districts, including Detroit, Pontiac, and Benton Harbor where they plan on reaching out to a network of organizations that pushed for a repeal of the EM law.

"The governor has messed up by his decision to allow his administration and his staff to make bad decisions which has resulted in lives being lost, kids being exposed to lead, families and residents having to pay for bad water," Murphy said.