Recall election

A recall election (also called a recall referendum or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before that official's term has ended. Recalls, which are initiated when sufficient voters sign a petition, have a history dating back to ancient Athenian democracy[1] and feature in several contemporary constitutions. In indirect or representative democracy, people's representatives are elected and these representatives rule for a specific period of time. However, where the facility to recall exists, should any representative come to be perceived as not properly discharging their responsibilities, then they can be called back with the written request of specific number or proportion of voters.

Argentina

The recall referendum arrived in Latin America shortly after its introduction at the US subnational level, in 1923 and 1933, to Cordoba and Entre Ríos provinces, respectively, both in Argentina. There, recall exists at the provincial level in Chaco (introduced in 1957), Chubut (1994), Córdoba (1923, 1987), Corrientes (1960), La Rioja (1986), Rio Negro (1988), Santiago del Estero and Tierra del Fuego (1991); other provinces include it for their municipalities, namely, Entre Ríos (1933), Neuquén (1957), Misiones (1958), San Juan (1986), San Luis (1987). It is also included in Buenos Aires City (1996).[2]

Canada

British Columbia

The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia enacted representative recall in 1995. In that province, voters in a provincial riding can petition to have their representative in parliament removed from office, even if that MLA is also the premier. (Holding a seat in the legislature is not constitutionally necessary to be premier, however.) If enough registered voters sign the petition, the speaker of the legislature announces in parliament that the member has been recalled and the lieutenant governor drops the writ for a by-election as soon as possible, giving voters the opportunity to replace the politician in question. By January 2003, 22 recall efforts had been launched. No-one has been recalled so far, but one representative, Paul Reitsma, resigned in 1998 when it looked as if the petition to recall him would have enough signatures to spur a recall election. Reitsma resigned during the secondary verification stage and the recall count ended.

Nova Scotia

The Atlantica Party campaigned for recall in the 2017 provincial election.

Colombia

In Colombia, the recall referendum was included by the constitution in 1991. The constitutional replacement was launched as an answer to the movement known as la séptima papeleta (the seventh ballot), which requested a constitutional reform to end violence, narcoterrorism, corruption and increasing citizenship apathy. The definition of recall referendum in relation to programmatic vote was approved. It obliges candidates running for office to register a government plan which is later on considered to activate the recall. Since the time the mechanism was regulated by Law 134 in 1994, until 2015, 161 attempts led 41 referendums and none of them succeeded since the threshold of participation was not reached. In 2015, a new law (303/2015) reduced the number of signatures required to activate a recall referendum (from 40 per cent to 30 per cent of the total of votes obtained by the elected authority) and the threshold (dropping from the 50 per cent to the 40 per cent of valid votes on the day of the elections of the challenged authority). The change in the regulation, also quickening the registration of promoters, led to a considerable increase in the number of attempts.[3]

Latvia

Article 14 of the Constitution of Latvia enables the recall of the entire Saiema, though not of specific representatives:

Article 14: Not less than one tenth of electors has the right to initiate a national referendum regarding recalling of the Saeima.
If the majority of voters and at least two thirds of the number of the voters who participated in the last elections of the Saeima vote in the national referendum regarding recalling of the Saeima, then the Saeima shall be deemed recalled.
The right to initiate a national referendum regarding recalling of the Saeima may not be exercised one year after the convening of the Saeima and one year before the end of the term of office of the Saeima, during the last six months of the term of office of the President, as well as earlier than six months after the previous national referendum regarding recalling of the Saeima.
The electors may not recall any individual member of the Saeima.

Philippines

Article 10 of the constitution of the Philippines allows for the recall of local officials. The Local Government Code, as amended, enabled the provisions of the constitution to be applied. Elected officials from provincial governors to the barangay councilors are allowed to be recalled. At least 25% of the electorate in a specific place must have their signatures verified in a petition in order for the recall to take place.[4]

The president, vice president, members of Congress, and the elected officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao cannot be removed via recall.

The last recall election above the barangay level was the 2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election.

Peru

Recall regulations were introduced in Peru by the Democratic Constituent Congress (Congreso Constituyente Democrático) which drafted a new constitution after Alberto Fujimori's autogolpe in 1992. Between 1997 and 2013, more than 5000 recall referendums were activated against democratically elected authorities from 747 Peruvian municipalities (45.5% of all municipalities). This makes Peru the world's most intensive user of this mechanism.[5]

Switzerland

While recalls are not provided for at the federal level in Switzerland, six cantons allow them:[6][7]

  • Bern: Recall of the executive and legislative has been possible since 1846. 30,000 signatures (4% of all adult citizens) are required to trigger a recall referendum. There has been one unsuccessful attempt to recall the executive in 1852 (the 'Schatzgelder' affair).
  • Schaffhausen: Recall of the executive and legislative has been possible since 1876. 1,000 signatures (2% of all adult citizens) are required to trigger a recall referendum. There has been one unsuccessful attempt to recall the executive in 2000, triggered by the lawyer and cantonal MP Gerold Meier.
  • Solothurn: Recall of the executive and legislative has been possible since 1869. 6,000 signatures (3% of all adult citizens) are required to trigger a recall referendum. There has been one unsuccessful attempt to recall the executive and legislative in 1995 (related to a banking scandal). Three further attempts (in 1887, 1961 and 1973) failed to collect the necessary number of signatures.
  • Ticino: Recall of the executive has been possible since 1892. 15,000 signatures (7% of all adult citizens) are required to trigger a recall referendum. There has been one unsuccessful recall attempt in 1942. In addition, recall of municipal executives has been possible since 2011. Signatures of 30% of all adult citizens are required to trigger a recall referendum.
  • Thurgau: Recall of the executive and legislative has been possible since 1869. 20,000 signatures (13% of all adult citizens) are required to trigger a recall referendum. There have been no recall attempts.
  • Uri: Recall of the executive and legislative has been possible since 1888. Since 1979, 600 signatures (3% of all adult citizens) have been required to trigger a recall referendum. In addition, recall of municipal executives and legislatives has been possible since 2011. Signatures of 10% of registered voters are required to trigger a recall referendum. There have been no recall attempts either at the cantonal or municipal levels.

The possibility of recall referendums (together with the popular election of executives, the initiative and the legislative referendum) was introduced into several cantonal constitutions after the 1860s in the course of a broad movement for democratic reform. The instrument has never been of any practical importance—the few attempts at recall so far have failed, usually because the required number of signatures was not collected—and it was abolished in the course of constitutional revisions in Aargau (1980), Baselland (1984) and Lucerne (2007). The only successful recall so far happened in the Canton of Aargau in the year 1862. However, the possibility of recalling municipal executives was newly introduced in Ticino in 2011, with 59% of voters in favor, as a reaction to the perceived problem of squabbling and dysfunctional municipal governments.[6]

Taiwan

In Taiwan, according to the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China, the recall of the president or the vice president shall be initiated upon the proposal of one-fourth of all members of the Legislative Yuan, and also passed by two-thirds of all the members. The final recall must be passed by more than one-half of the valid ballots in a vote in which more than one-half of the electorate in the free area of the Republic of China takes part.

Ukraine

A year after the 2015 Ukrainian local elections, voters can achieve a recall election of an elected deputy or mayor if as many signatures as voters are collected.[8]

United States

Submitting petitions for the recall of Seattle, Washington mayor Hiram Gill in December 1910; Gill was removed by a recall election the following February, but voters returned him to the office in 1914

Recall first appeared in Colonial America in the laws of the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1631.[9] This version of the recall involved one elected body removing another official. During the American Revolution, the Articles of Confederation stipulated that state legislatures might recall delegates from the Continental Congress.[10] According to New York Delegate John Lansing, the power was never exercised by any state. The Virginia Plan, issued at the outset of the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, proposed to pair recall with rotation in office and to apply these dual principles to the lower house of the national legislature. The recall was rejected by the Constitutional Convention. However, the anti-Federalists used the lack of recall provision as a weapon in the ratification debates.

Several states proposed adopting a recall for US senators in the years immediately following the adoption of the Constitution. However, it did not pass.

Only two governors have ever been successfully recalled. In 1921, Governor Lynn Frazier of North Dakota was recalled during a dispute about state-owned industries. In 2003, Governor Gray Davis of California was recalled over the state budget. Additionally, in 1988, a recall was approved against Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona,[11] but he was impeached and convicted before it got on the ballot.[12]

In Alaska, Georgia, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Rhode Island, and Washington, specific grounds are required for a recall. Some form of malfeasance or misconduct while in office must be identified by the petitioners. The target may choose to dispute the validity of the grounds in court, and a court then judges whether the allegations in the petition rise to a level where a recall is necessary. In the November 2010 general election, Illinois passed a referendum to amend the state constitution to allow a recall of the state's governor, in light of former Governor Rod Blagojevich's corruption scandal. In the other eleven states that permit statewide recall, no grounds are required and recall petitions may be circulated for any reason. However, the target is permitted to submit responses to the stated reasons for recall.

The minimum number of signatures to qualify a recall, and the time limit to do so, vary among the states. In addition, the handling of recalls, once they qualify, differs. In some states a recall triggers a simultaneous special election, where the vote on the recall, as well as the vote on the replacement if the recall succeeds, are on the same ballot. In the 2003 California recall election, over 100 candidates appeared on the replacement portion of the ballot. In other states, a separate special election is held after the target is recalled, or a replacement is appointed by the Governor or some other state authority.

2011 recalls

In 2011, there were at least 150 recall elections in the United States. Of these, 75 officials were recalled, and nine officials resigned under threat of recall. Recalls were held in 17 states in 73 different jurisdictions. Michigan had the most recalls (at least 30). The year set a record for number of state legislator recall elections (11 elections) beating the previous one-year high (three elections). Three jurisdictions adopted the recall in 2011.[13]

Of recall elections, 52 were for city council, 30 were for mayor, 17 were for school board, 11 were for state legislators, and one was for a prosecuting attorney (York County, Nebraska). The largest municipality to hold a recall was Miami-Dade County, Florida, for mayor.[13]

The busiest day was November 8 (Election Day) with 26 recalls. In 34 jurisdictions, recalls were held over multiple days.[13]

Successful recalls

Unsuccessful recalls

Note: Wisconsin's Jim Holperin has the distinction of being the only U.S. politician to have been subjected to recall from service in two different legislative bodies: the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1990 and the Wisconsin State Senate in 2011. Both attempts were unsuccessful.[39]

Unsuccessful attempts to qualify recall elections

  • 1967 United States Senator Frank Church of Idaho was the subject of an unsuccessful recall effort.[40] Courts ruled that a federal official is not subject to state recall laws.
  • 1988 Evan Mecham, Governor of Arizona, was scheduled for a recall election on May 17 of that year, after a successful petition drive (301,000 signatures). However, the Supreme Court of Arizona canceled the election, since Mecham had already been impeached and removed from office by the Senate on April 4.[41]
  • 1992-93 California Governor Pete Wilson was targeted for recall by the Bite 'Em Back campaign, which was a grassroots effort that came about as a result of a piece by San Jose Mercury News columnist Pat Dillon, in response to the then-ongoing California budgetary crisis.[42][43] The Bite 'Em Back campaign also intended to recall then-Speaker of the Assembly Willie L. Brown, and then-President Pro Tem of the state Senate, David Roberti.
  • 2003 H. Brent Coles, mayor of Boise, Idaho, was the subject of a recall petition drive. Coles resigned on February 14, 2003, before the recall drive could proceed.[44]
  • 2009 Joseph Cao U.S. representative for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, was determined to be inelligble for recall as per his status as a Federal office holder.
  • 2009 a petition failed to garner sufficient signatures to oblige an election for recall of Eddie Price III, mayor of Mandeville, Louisiana.
  • 2009 a petition for recall of Stacy Head, New Orleans city councilwoman, likewise failed to gain the requisite number of signatures.
  • 2010 there were two unsuccessful recall petitions for Sam Adams mayor of Portland, OR.
  • 2010 there was one unsuccessful recall petition for Lisa Poppaw city council member of Fort Collins, CO.
  • 2010 there was one unsuccessful recall petition for Antonio Villaraigosa mayor of Los Angeles.
  • 2010, a recall proposal aimed at mayor Ron Littlefield of Chattanooga, Tennessee failed after a judge of the Hamilton County, Tennessee circuit court ruled that too many of the petition signatures were invalid and that the petitioners had failed to properly adhere to the state's recall law, leaving "pages without dates."[45]
  • 2011, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled in November that the Hamilton County Circuit Court Judge Jeff Hollingsworth did not have the jurisdiction in entering an injunction against the Hamilton County Election Commission. In its judgment summary the Appeals Court said, "The trial court acted without jurisdiction in entering an injunction against the Election Commission. The judgment of the trial court is vacated and the complaint dismissed." Mayor Littlefield is continuing legal action to stop the recall.[46]
  • 2011, as part of the Wisconsin Senate recall elections, 2011, there were a number of failed recall petitions. Petitions against senators Lena Taylor (D), Spencer Coggs (D), Mark Miller (D), Glenn Grothman (R), Julie Lassa (D), Fred Risser (D), and Mary Lazich (R), were unsuccessful. Many senators had multiple recall petitions filed against them, and in the case of both Wirch and Hansen, one succeeded while others failed.
  • 2011, an effort to recall Michigan Governor Rick Snyder was ended after organizers did not obtain enough petition signatures to appear on the ballot.[47]
  • 2011, a petition to recall Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna failed to obtain the necessary signatures to force a recall election.[48]
  • 2011, an attempt to prompt recall election of Trenton, New Jersey mayor Tony F. Mack failed to obtain enough support.[49]
  • 2011 recall of Alaska State Representative Kyle Johansen, rejected by the state's Division of Elections on October 10.[50] Republicans in his district sponsored the recall when Johansen and fellow representative Charisse Millett left the House's majority caucus in a dispute over Johansen's role in the 27th Legislature. In 2012, Johansen ran for reelection as an independent and lost by a wide margin; Millett was reelected.
  • 2012 recall of Wisconsin State Senator Pam Galloway. On March 16, 2012, Galloway announced her resignation from office due to health issues in her family.[51]
  • 2017: In Loveland, Ohio, Mayor Mark Fitzgerald resigned under pressure from a recall effort, and a move to replace him was declared invalid, leaving the city with no mayor for several months.[52]

Recall efforts in Progress

  • Recall of Mayor William Laforet, the current mayor of Mahwah, NJ is currently in progress.[53] "The Committee to Recall Mayor William Laforet" submitted the signatures that were collected solely by the town volunteers to the town clerk Kathrine Coviello, who has certified on July 11 that there are enough signatures that are legible and are those of registered Mahwah voters for the recall effort to be certified.[54] The group was required to get about 4,150 signatures, or 25 percent of the registered voters in the last election. This is the second recall effort against William Laforet. The first recall attempt failed in 2015 due to the lack of required number of signatures. The citizens petition claims that there is a profound lack of leadership by the mayor. They also claim that the mayor has blocked tax-paying residents on social media that he uses to post important updates about the town. The Committee to Recall Mayor Laforet has also reported stolen signs from the public Right-of-ways they were posted in.[55] The Mahwah Town Council voted "No confidence" in the mayor twice in his tenure. On the 7th of August, 2018, the recall official for the town of Mahwah officially issued the "Certificate of Sufficiency" to recall Mayor William Laforet from the office of the Mayor of Mahwah. The question to recall the mayor is set to go on the ballot for November 6, 2018.

Venezuela

Article 72 of the Constitution of Venezuela enables the recall of any elected representative, including the President. This provision was used in the Venezuelan recall referendum, 2004, which attempted to remove President Hugo Chavez:

Article 72: All [...] offices filled by popular vote are subject to revocation.
Once one-half of the term of office to which an official has been elected has elapsed, a number of voters representing at least 20% of the registered voters in the affected constituency may petition for the calling of a referendum to revoke that official's mandate.
When a number of voters equal to or greater than the number of those who elected the official vote in favour of the recall, provided that a number of voters equal to or greater than 25% of the total number of registered voters vote in the recall referendum, the official's mandate shall be deemed revoked and immediate action shall be taken to fill the permanent vacancy as provided for by this Constitution and by law.

See also

General

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Aristotle, Constitution of Athens 43.4
  2. ↑ Welp, Yanina (2018) "Recall referendum around the world: origins, institutional designs and current debates", in Morel, Laurence & Qvortrup, Matt. Compendium on Direct Democracy. Routledge.
  3. ↑ Yanina Welp & Juan Pablo Milanese (2018): Playing by the rules of the game: partisan use of recall referendums in Colombia, Democratization, DOI: 10.1080/13510347.2017.1421176
  4. ↑ Bueza, Michael (2014-10-14). "Fast Facts: The recall process". Rappler. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  5. ↑ Welp, Yanina (2016) “Recall referendums in Peruvian municipalities: a political weapon for bad losers or an instrument of accountability?”, Democratization 23 (7): 1162-1179.
  6. 1 2 Jankovsky, Peter (22 March 2011). "Der Versuch, eine Exekutive zu stoppen". Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
  7. ↑ Uwe Serd ült (2015) THE HISTORY OF A DORMANT INSTITUTION: LEGAL NORMS AND THE PRACTICE OF RECALL IN SWITZERLAND, Representation, 51:2, 161-172, DOI: 10.1080/00344893.2015.1056219
  8. ↑ Local vote, global implications, Business Ukraine (1 October 2015)
    Poroshenko responds to petition on recalling MPs, UNIAN (16 October 2015)
    What the new Local Elections Law changed?, Ukrainian Crisis Media Center (8 September 2014)
  9. ↑ Joshua Spivak, History News Network, http://hnn.us/articles/1660.html
  10. ↑ Article V of the Articles of Confederation provided, "a power reserved to each state, to recall its delegates, or any of them, at any time within the year, and to send others in their stead, for the remainder of the Year."
  11. ↑ Watkins, Ronald J. (1990). High Crimes and Misdemeanors : The Term and Trials of Former Governor Evan Mecham. New York: William Morrow & Co. pp. 194–195, 274. ISBN 0-688-09051-6.
  12. ↑ "Arizona's Supreme Court Blocks A Special Gubernatorial Election". The New York Times. April 13, 1988. pp. A20:1.
  13. 1 2 3 http://recallelections.blogspot.com/2011/12/year-in-recalls-150-recalls-in-2011.html
  14. ↑ Burton J. Hendrick, "The 'Recall' in Seattle', McClure's, October 1911, p. 647–663.
  15. 1 2 Kaplan, Tracey (February 6, 2018). "California's 1st judicial recall in 86 years to come before voters in Santa Clara County". The Mercury News. San Jose, California. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series, Corrected List of Mayors, 1867-1996" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-05-09.
  17. ↑ 'Recall vote removed five in La Crosse,' Racine Journal Times, August 3, 1977, pg. 7A
  18. ↑ 'La Crosse removes 4 School Board members,' Milwaukee Journal, July 15, 1992, pg. A13
  19. ↑ James, Michael S. (July 22, 1994). "River Vale Recall Vote Offers Two Slates Split by 911 Issue". The Bergen Record.
  20. 1 2 "State.wi.us" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-12-09. Retrieved 2010-05-09.
  21. ↑ Associated Press (March 11, 2001). "Ex-mayor reimburses North Pole over contested election". Peninsula Clarion. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  22. ↑ State.wi.us Archived 2006-12-09 at the Wayback Machine., Wisconsin Constitution Article XIII, section 12
  23. ↑ Fuller, Kathy (September 30, 2011). "Cornelius voters oust 'Team 3' from office". Hillsboro Argus. Hillsboro, OR. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  24. ↑ http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=62160
  25. ↑ "Sheboygan mayoral recall: Mayor Bob Ryan ousted from office by challenger Terry Van Akkeren". Sheboygan Press. Sheboygan, WI. February 21, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  26. ↑ "Wisconsin June 5 recall election results". Milwakee Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel. June 6, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2012.
  27. ↑ "RECALLED: Troy Mayor Janice Daniels Voted Out of Office". Troy Patch. November 7, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  28. 1 2 Lynn Barels, Kurtis Lee and Joey Bunch (September 10, 2013). "John Morse, Angela Giron ousted in historic Colorado recall election". Denver Post. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
  29. ↑ WAFB Staff (November 16, 2013). "Port Allen Mayor Deedy Slaughter recalled". WAFB. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  30. ↑ Aguilar, John and Yesenia Robles. "Jeffco voters choose recall; incumbents losing in DougCo school race", The Denver Post, November 3, 2015. (accessed 8 November 2015)
  31. ↑ Morice, Jane "East Cleveland mayor, City Council president recalled in special election", cleveland.com, December 6, 2016. (accessed 13 December 2016)
  32. ↑ McNamara, John (March 12, 2018). "Woolfley wins big in Bowie District 2 special election". The Bowie Blade-News. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  33. ↑ Kaplan, Tracey (June 5, 2018). "Judge Persky likely to be recalled". The Mercury News. San Jose, California. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  34. ↑ "Democrats lose California state senate supermajority after recall vote". Fox News. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  35. ↑ http://www.newslincolncounty.com/archives/208050
  36. ↑ Recall Election Archived 2011-07-08 at the Wayback Machine.
  37. ↑ "A judge haunted by five ill-chosen words about a..." UPI. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
  38. ↑ http://www.omaha.com/article/20110125/NEWS01/110129780
  39. ↑ The Milwaukee Journal, April 4, 1990; http://gab.wi.gov/elections-voting/2011/recall/july-19 (retrieved 11/16/2013)
  40. ↑ Frank Church Chronology Archived February 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  41. ↑ "Arizona's Supreme Court Blocks A Special Gubernatorial Election". The New York Times. April 13, 1988. pp. A20:1.
  42. ↑ Daily Titan, "Group asks for Wilson's recall," by Matt Cliff (November 18th, 1992 - retrieved on June 18th, 2011).
  43. ↑ Los Angeles Times, "VALLEY COLLEGE: Wilson Recall Campaign Started," by Jennifer Case (October 4th, 1992 - retrieved on June 19th, 2011).
  44. ↑ "Charged With Getting Free Olympics Trip, Boise Mayor Resigns", The New York Times, February 15, 2003. (accessed 8 November 2015)
  45. ↑
  46. ↑
  47. ↑ http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2011/09/report_effort_to_recall_michig.html
  48. ↑ "Tom Luna reacts to failure of recall efforts", Bryan Dooley, The Idaho Press-Tribune, June 28, 2011
  49. ↑ http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2011/11/committee_to_recall_mayor_mack.html
  50. ↑ KRBD, "Recall application rejected," October 11, 2011
  51. ↑ Patrick Marley (March 16, 2012). "State Sen. Galloway to resign, leaving Senate split". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  52. ↑ "Loveland Has No Mayor". WLWT-TV. August 18, 2017.
  53. ↑ "Recall? Thousands of petitions try to take down N.J. mayor". NJ.com. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  54. ↑ "Mahwah Mayor Recall Bid: Petition Has Enough Verified Signatures To Proceed". Mahwah-Ramsey Daily Voice. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  55. ↑ "RecallMayorLaforet.com". RecallMayorLaforet.com. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
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