recall election
A group of municipal officials pressed Wisconsin lawmakers Tuesday to make it harder to initiate recall elections at the local level, saying it’s currently too easy and that such campaigns often divide communities.
Town of Garfield board chairman Steve Dickinsen told the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections that a recall is usually the best way for people to call out officials they don’t agree with on issues, but it can be “divisive” if done too frequently.
The Arizona House of Representatives has passed a bill on a party-line vote adding a primary election to all voter-initiated recall elections.
Majority Republicans pushing the bill argued it was needed to prevent the ouster of elected officials who are targeted only because of their party affiliation. Democrats say it’s designed to protect incumbents.
Read More: AZ Central
A Racine man has pleaded guilty to election fraud in a case in which he’s accused of forging seven signatures on recall petitions, the Journal Times of Racine reports.
The petitions were to recall then Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine).
Read More at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
pponents of efforts to recall Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio are criticizing the role of out-of-state resources in the campaign.
The sheriff’s supporters have taken up themes normally associated with Arpaio’s critics, calling on financial transparency by the recall sponsoring group Respect Arizona and decrying outside influences, The (Phoenix) Arizona Republic reported Wednesday.
A recall election is still in doubt. Recall supporters have 90 days, until the May 30 deadline, to amass 335,000 valid signatures and force an election, the newspaper said.
In all, Wisconsin voters recalled nine state senators, three Democrats and six Republicans, forcing them to stand for new elections. So far, one incumbent D has been re-elected and four of six Rs have kept their seats, with two GOP senators defeated. The last two districts vote today, with two incumbent Democrats on the ballot against Republican challengers.
“Unprecedented” is a word that seems to get unprecedented use these days. But today’s six recall elections in Wisconsin, which could flip partisan control of the state senate, truly are part of an exceptional recall effort.
As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:
Since 1908, there have been 20 recorded state legislative recall elections held in the United States, according to one recall expert. Wisconsin is in the process of holding nine such elections in the space of a month.
Robin Farris had never been involved in politics before, but that changed when the retired Naval Officer saw news reports of wrongdoing and impropriety from the office of Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer Dale Washam. Dismayed and disgusted, Farris decided to start an effort to recall Washam, only to find that Washam’s fellow politicos in the state legislature had already been at work making sure that citizens had a hard time using the recall process.
Rosebud Sioux Tribe members are currently circulating a recall petition against tribal President Rodney Bordeaux, citing mismanagement of tribal affairs. While Bordeaux defends himself, the Rapid City Journal reports that tribal officials are hampering signature collection efforts:
Portsmouth Mayor James Holley has been given until next Friday to resign his position, finding that a recall petition with nearly 9,000 signatures was sufficient to trigger a recall election.
United States District Court Judge Robert Holmes Bell has made Michigan the ninth state to see a requirement that campaign workers who circulate petitions be residents of the state struck down. In 2008 federal appeals courts struck down residency requirements in Ohio, Arizona and Oklahoma. Residency requirements of some kind have previously been ruled unconstitutional in California, Colorado, Wisconsin, Illinois, and New York.
As initiative proponents collect signatures for next year’s ballot, and the Citizens in Charge Foundation staff continues to dig out from last weekend’s snow storm, petition rights activists around the country are getting ready for the restrictions on the initiative and referendum process that will be proposed in upcoming state legislative sessions.
Nearly twice as many efforts to recall public officials are underway this year than last, according to Citizens in Charge Foundation President Paul Jacob. In his daily Common Sense commentary, Paul points out several of the recall efforts from around the country, many of which have been mentioned on this site.
Signatures on petitions to recall the city mayor and one council member are being reviewed by elections officials today in Cap May Court House. Recall supporters are targeting the officials in response recent and proposed tax increases.
Akron, Ohio mayor Don Plusquellic, who has been in office for over two decades, survived a recall election last month by a wide margin. Recall supporters had accused the mayor of playing fast and loose with the taxpayers’ money, ethics violations, and questionable campaign financing amongst other things.
Residents of Medford Lakes, NJ are pushing ahead with plans to recall the borough mayor. The recall effort comes in response to consideration of a plan to eliminate the local police force. Recall supporters need to collect the signatures of about 750 registered voters to trigger a recall election.