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East County News Service
April 17, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) – With antipathy toward “insiders” in politics running high nationwide, some readers have asked us what it takes to recall a public official for offices such as a local school board or higher office.
The recall process is complex, but has been accomplished locally in the past. For instance, citizens in Potrero recalled five of their planning group officials back in 2007 and also elected a slate of reform candidates during the same special election. Statewide, Governor Grey Davis was removed from office via a recall election in 2003.
Sometimes, the mere filing of a recall may be enough to bring about change. Former Grossmont Union High School District trustee Nadia Davies resigned after a recall was launched against her, for example.
The San Diego Registrar of Voters has published a “recall guide” available online here. For more information, scroll down.
The process is only available for local and state offices, not federal, since the U.S. Constitution has no procedure for voters to oust members of the House or U.S. Senate. (Only in a general election can voters oust federal officials. (The only other way to oust a federal official including judges, members of the House or Senate, President or Vice President, is through impeachment by the House and a trial by the Senate. Only 60 impeachment proceedings have ever been initiated and just 8 resulted in ouster, all for federal judges.)
The process requires signatures based on a percentage of the number of voters in the district. So it’s much harder to get enough signatures in a large district such as a Board of Supervisors district or a large high school district than a small town’s planning board, for example.
To cite a specific example, in the Grossmont Union High School District at last count there were 217,000 voters and signatures would be required from 10% of those to get a recall measure onto a ballot, or 21,700 signatures. However if the district breaks up into five trustee districts instead of a single at-large district, the number of voters per district would be much smaller. However, Registrar of Michael Vu states, “If a trustee was to be recalled from a district that has 43,000 registered voters in it, the threshold would no longer be 10%. My reading is that it would increase to 20%.” So that would require approximately 8,300 signatures. (Actual numbers would be determined only after any redistricting becomes final).
Sometimes, a recall can be the most effective way to get rid of an unpopular official. That’s because in a general election, candidates are not allowed to say anything negative about their opponents in their ballot statement. By contrast in a recall election, the ballot can include a statement on why proponents believe one or more office holders deserve to be recalled.
However, getting the word out about a recall can be a costly process. Verification of signatures is required and there are many intricate details of both state and local laws that must be followed to the letter. Even having the wrong sized margins on a recall petition could get it disqualified. If multiple members of a board face recall, separate recall petitions must be filed for each of them.
Depending on the timing of a recall filing, a recall may appear on a ballot in an already-scheduled election or a special election may be called.
There is no cost to file a recall petition for any local office, however if the measure qualifies for the ballot, the district impacted can be forced to pay for the costs of the recall election.
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