Recall elections

A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of office has ended. Recalls, which are initiated when sufficient voters sign a petition, have a history dating back to the constitution in ancient Athenian democracy and feature in several current constitutions. In indirect or representative democracy, people's representatives are elected and these representatives serve for a specific period of time. However, where the facility to recall exists, if any representative comes to be perceived as not properly discharging their responsibilities, they can be called back with the written request of a specific number or proportion of voters. Even where they are legally available, recall elections are only commonly held in a small number of countries including the United States, Peru, Ecuador, and Japan. They are considered by groups such as ACE Electoral Knowledge Network the most rarely used form of direct democracy.

Process

The processes for recall elections vary greatly by country and can be originated in different ways. The process for calling a recall election may be:

* Indirect (also known as a "Mixed" or "Top-down" recall): A recall may only be triggered by an official authority such as a government, parliament, or president.
*Direct (also known as a "Full" or "Bottom-up" recall): A recall may be triggered by the public directly by the collection of signatures.

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).

Canada

Canada has legislation through a private members bill allowing for recall elections on the federal level wit
BILL C-269
The only province or territory with recall election laws currently in force is British Columbia. Alberta has passed legislation but it is not yet in force.

Alberta

The province of Alberta enacted recall legislation for Members of the Legislative Assembly in 1936 during the Social Credit government of William Aberhart. The legislation was repealed after a petition was introduced for the recall of Aberhart himself.

In 2020, the Government of Alberta announced it will introduce a bill allowing recall elections for Members of the Legislative Assembly, municipal governments, and school boards. This bill, Bill 52, was passed and received Royal Assent June 17, 2021, and came into effect on April 7, 2022.

British Columbia

British Columbia's ''Recall and Initiative Act'', enacted in 1995, provides a process for recalling members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Voters in a provincial riding can petition to have their Member of the Legislative Assembly removed from office once said MLA has been in office for at least 18 months. If over 40 percent of registered voters in the riding sign the petition and the petition is validated by Elections BC, the Chief Electoral Officer informs the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the member in question that the member has been recalled and their seat vacated. A by-election is called by the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia as soon as possible to fill the vacant seat. The recalled MLA is permitted to run in the by-election for their former seat. Twenty-six recall petitions have been launched ; of the six completed petitions returned to Elections BC, five were rejected for having too few valid signatures. The sixth, on the recall of MLA Paul Reitsma, was halted after Reitsma resigned in 1998 during the secondary verification stage.

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.

Ecuador

Article 105 of the 2008 Constitution of Ecuador provides for recall of all elected officials:

Germany

Mayoral Recalls

Mayors may be recalled in 11 out of the 16 states of Germany. In a majority of these states recall elections are indirect, meaning that they only take place after a motion of no confidence from the municipal council of the city. A supermajority vote is normally needed to start the recall process from the council. Four states also allow the direct recall, where citizens may sign a petition to trigger the recall vote.

State parliaments

The recall of members of the state parliaments of Germany exist in five states; Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, and Rhineland-Palatinate. All of these states only allow for the recall of the entire legislature by triggering a new election, the recall of individual members is not allowed.

Article 18, Section 3 of th
Constitution of Bavaria
provides, that the entire Landtag can be dismissed by referendum on petition of 1 Million citizens, with elections of a new Landtag to be held up to six weeks after the recall referendum.

India

Kiribati

Section 69 of the Constitution of Kiribati provides for a majority of electors in a district (who were electors of the district at the time of the original election) to sign a petition requesting a recall election. The recall election must not occur less than 6 months after the original election or a failed recall attempt. If the recall election is successful another election to fill the seat must be held within 3 months.

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.

Mexico

In Mexico, the State of Yucatán was the first to introduce the recall in 1938. The mechanism, which had never been used, was declared unconstitutional 72 years later by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. A similar mechanism introduced in Chihuahua in 1997 was also declared unconstitutional and consequently eliminated from law. Despite these precedents, the recall was later included in the states of Oaxaca (1998), Morelos (2011), Guerrero (2013), Zacatecas and Aguascalientes.

New Zealand

Early policies of the New Zealand Labour Party included support for "the recall".

Philippines

Article 10 of the constitution of the Philippines allows for the recall of local officials. The Local Government Code, as amended, enabled the application of the provisions of the constitution. Elected officials from provincial governors to the barangay councilors are potentially subject to recall. 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.

The president, vice president, members of Congress, and the elected officials of the Bangsamoro cannot be removed via recall.

The most recent 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.

Switzerland

While recalls are not provided for at the federal level in Switzerland, six cantons allow them:
*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.

Soviet Union

Article 142 of The 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union had the right in theory to recall deputies in legislature at all levels of government:

The recall was widely copied in the constitutions of communist countries of the Eastern Bloc, China, Vietnam, North Korea, and Cuba. Although allowable according to law, in practice the right of recall was never used in any soviet system of government.

Taiwan

In Taiwan, according to the Additional Articles of the Constitution, 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.
On 6 June 2020, mayor of Kaohsiung, Han Kuo-yu, became the first mayor to be recalled. 939,090 votes within 969,259 agreed the recall.

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.

United Kingdom

The Recall of MPs Act 2015 (c. 25) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which allows a recall petition to be held if a Member of Parliament did certain wrongdoings, including being sentenced to prison for up to a year (longer sentences result in automatic disqualification). The petitions cannot be triggered by popular initiative, but rather are automatic and administered by the local returning officer for parliamentary elections, who is designated as petitions officer for this purpose. If the subsequent recall petition is successful, by being signed by at least 10% of the electorate, a by-election is called. It received Royal Assent on 26 March 2015 after being introduced on 11 September 2014. On 1 May 2019, Fiona Onasanya became the first MP to be removed from office after a successful recall petition.

United States

Recall first appeared in Colonial America in the laws of the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1631. 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. 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, but he was impeached and convicted before it got on the ballot.

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.

The largest amount of recalls in the United States were held in 2021, as 529 officials faced recalls, but it had the lowest amount of successful recalls as only 25 were removed.

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.

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.

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

Successful recalls

Alaska

*1998 recall of Tim Peters, mayor of North Pole, Alaska.

Arizona

* 2011 recall of Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce.
*1988 recall of Arizona Governor Evan Mecham. Almost 390,000 signatures were collected to recall Governor Evan Mecham from the governorship of Arizona. Only 216,746 valid signatures were required.

California

*1913 recall of a judge in San Francisco
*1928 recall of Lester R. Rice-Wray, Los Angeles, California, City Council member
*1932 recalls of three judges in Los Angeles
*1938 recall of Mayor Frank L. Shaw in Los Angeles, California
*1995 recall of California State Assemblyman Paul Horcher
*1995 recall of California State Assembly Speaker Doris Allen
* 2003 recall of Gray Davis, Governor of California
* 2012 recall of Fullerton, California City Council members Don Bankhead, F. Richard "Dick" Jones and Patrick McKinley.
* 2018 recall of California superior court judge Aaron Persky of Santa Clara County over his sentencing decision in ''People v. Turner''
* 2018 recall of California State Senator Josh Newman over his vote to raise the gas tax
*2020 recall of Santa Cruz, California city council members Chris Krohn and Drew Glover for workplace misconduct.
*2020 recall of McKinney, Texas city council member La'shadion Shemwell for conduct unbecoming of a council member.
* 2022 recall of San Francisco Unified School District Commissioners Gabriela López, Alison Collins, and Faauuga Moliga.
* 2022 recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin.
*2022 recall of Big Bear Lake, California city council member Alan Lee.

Colorado

* 2012 recall of Melinda Myers, Clerk & Recorder of Saguache County, Colorado.
* 2013 recall of Colorado Democratic State Senator John Morse
* 2013 recall of Colorado Democratic State Senator Angela Giron
*2015 recall of three school board members in Jefferson County, ColoradoAguilar, John and Yesenia Robles
"Jeffco voters choose recall; incumbents losing in DougCo school race"
''The Denver Post'', November 3, 2015. (accessed 8 November 2015)

Florida

*2011 recall of Carlos Alvarez, Mayor of Miami-Dade County, Florida.
*2011 recall of Natacha Seijas, Miami-Dade County Commissioner.
*2020 recall of Sebastian, Florida vice mayor Charles Mauti and city council members Damien Gilliams and Pamela Parris over allegations of malfeasance and alleged Sunshine Law violations.

Idaho

*1916 recall of J. W. Robinson, Mayor of Boise, Idaho

Louisiana

* 2013 recall of Deedy Slaughter, Mayor of Port Allen, Louisiana

Maine

*2013 recall of six of the seven city council members in Old Orchard Beach, Maine

Maryland

* 2018 recall of Bowie, Maryland city councilwoman Diane Polangin, over her vote to approve a controversial development project located in her district

Massachusetts

*2014 recall of Fall River, Massachusetts Mayor William A. Flanagan
*2015 recall of four selectmen in Saugus, Massachusetts

Michigan

*1983 recall of Michigan state senators Phil Mastin and David Serotkin due to their support for a state income tax hike. Loss of these two Democratic lawmakers, along with two special elections won by Republicans, flipped the state senate to GOP control, where it remained until the 2022 Michigan elections.
*2002 recall of Woodrow Stanley, mayor of Flint, Michigan.
* 2011 recall of Michigan State Representative Paul Scott
* 2012 recall of Janice Daniels, Mayor of Troy, Michigan

Minnesota

* 2022 recall of Two Harbors mayor Chris Swanson

Nebraska

*1987 recall of Mike Boyle, Mayor of Omaha, Nebraska.

New Jersey

*1994 recall of officials in River Vale, New Jersey: Mayor Walter Jones, Councilwoman Patricia Geier, and Councilman Bernard Salmon
*2018 recall of Mahwah, New Jersey mayor William Laforet.

North Dakota

* 1921 recall of Lynn Frazier, Governor of North Dakota

Ohio

*2016 recall of Mayor and City Council President in East Cleveland, OhioMorice, Jan
"East Cleveland mayor, City Council president recalled in special election"
'' cleveland.com'', December 6, 2016. (accessed 13 December 2016)
*2010 recall of Jane Murray, Mayor of Portsmouth, Ohio

Oregon

*2011 recall of Neal Knight, Mayor of Cornelius, Oregon, and city councilors Mari Gottwald and Jamie Minshall, less than a year after their election, due to unhappiness over their votes to fire the city manager.
*2008 recall of Carmen Kontur-Gronquist, Mayor of Arlington, Oregon.
*2018 recall of Toledo, Oregon mayor Billie Jo Smith and two City Council members over allegations of malfeasance, wrongful termination of city employees, and conducting city business at secret meetings

Texas

*1996 recall of Carrollton Texas Mayor Gary Blanscet and council members Linda Caldwell, Bernis Francis, Stan Hampton, Bob Novinsky, Bert Colter, and Stan Sewell.
*2011 recall of multiple Killeen, Texas elected city officials including Mayor Pro Tem Scott Cosper and four city council members.
*2019 recall of Rusk, Texas city council members Jan Pate and Ken Ferrara for conduct unbecoming of a council member

Virginia

*1987 recall of James Holley, Mayor of Portsmouth, Virginia
*2010 recall of James Holley, Mayor of Portsmouth, Virginia.

Washington

*1911 recall of Hiram Gill, Mayor of Seattle, Washington
*2005 recall of James E. West, Mayor of Spokane, Washington.
*2014 recall of Mayor Marilynn Lynn of Bridgeport, WA

Wisconsin

*1977 recall of County Judge Archie Simonson, Madison, Wisconsin
*1977 recall of five members of the La Crosse School Board, La Crosse, Wisconsin
*1992 recall of four members of the La Crosse School Board
*1996 recall of Wisconsin State Senator George Petak
*2002 recall of multiple Milwaukee County, Wisconsin elected county officials including Executive F. Thomas Ament (resigned before election); Board Chair Karen Ordinans; and Board Supervisors Penny Podell, LeAnn Launstein, David Jasenski, Kathy Arciszewski, James McGuigan, and Linda Ryan. All were recalled due to a retirement pension controversy.
*2003 recall of Wisconsin State Senator Gary George
* 2011 recall of Wisconsin State Senator Randy Hopper
*2011 recall of Wisconsin State Senator Dan Kapanke
* 2012 recall of Bob Ryan, Mayor of Sheboygan, Wisconsin
* 2012 recall of Wisconsin State Senator Van H. Wanggaard

Unsuccessful recalls

*1932 recall election of Wisconsin State Senator Otto Mueller
* 1978 recall of Cleveland Mayor Dennis Kucinich
* 1982 recall of Grant County, Wisconsin Judge William L. Reinecke
*1983 recall of San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein
*1990 recall of Wisconsin State Assemblyman Jim Holperin
*2008 recall of California State Senator Jeff Denham
*2008 recall of Michigan House of Representatives Speaker Andy Dillon
*2009 recall of San Jose, California City Council member Madison Nguyen
*2009 recall of Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic
*2010 recall of Mayor Doug Isaacson in North Pole, Alaska
*2010 recall of Mayor Anthony R. Suarez in Ridgefield, New Jersey