Arecall election (also called arecall referendum,recall petition orrepresentative recall) is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through areferendum before that official'sterm of office has ended. Recalls appear in theconstitution in ancientAthenian democracy.[1] Even where they are legally available, recall elections are only commonly held in a small number of countries includingPeru,Ecuador,Taiwan, andJapan.[2] They are considered by groups such asACE Electoral Knowledge Network as the most rarely used form ofdirect democracy.[3]
The processes for recall elections vary greatly by country and can be originated in different ways.Initiating a recall can be done in two ways:
Indirect (also known as a "Mixed"[4] or "Top-down"[5] recall): A recall may only be triggered by an official authority such as a government, parliament, or president.
Direct (also known as a "Full"[4] or "Bottom-up"[5] recall): A recall may be triggered by the public directly as apopular initiative.
The scheduling of a recall outside of normal elections causes additional expense. For example, the2021 California gubernatorial recall election cost taxpayers $300 million[6] for an election that the governor won 61.9% to 38.1%.[7]
The recall referendum arrived in Latin America shortly after its introduction at the US subnational level, in 1923 and 1933, toCordoba andEntre Ríos provinces, respectively, both in Argentina. There, recall exists at the provincial level inChaco (introduced in 1957),Chubut (1994), Córdoba (1923, 1987),Corrientes (1960),La Rioja (1986),Rio Negro (1988),Santiago del Estero andTierra 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 inBuenos Aires City (1996).[10]
An attempt at introducing recall legislation for Canada's federalParliament was brought in October 1999 byReform Party opposition memberTed White through a private members bill entitledBill C 269, the Recall Act (An Act to establish the right of electors to recall members of Parliament.).[11] However, the legislation stalled and did not progress pastfirst reading.[12]
As such, no nation-wide recall statute exists, but two provinces, Alberta andBritish Columbia[13][14] have recall laws on the books.
The province ofAlberta enacted recall legislation for Members of the Legislative Assembly in 1936 during theSocial Credit government ofWilliam Aberhart.[13] The legislation was repealed after a petition was introduced for the recall of Aberhart himself.[13][15]
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.[16] This bill, Bill 52, was passed and received Royal Assent June 17, 2021, and came into effect on April 7, 2022.[17]
British Columbia'sRecall and Initiative Act, enacted in 1995, provides a process for recalling members of theLegislative Assembly of British Columbia.[14] Voters in a provincialriding 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 byElections BC, the Chief Electoral Officer informs theSpeaker of the Legislative Assembly and the member in question that the member has been recalled and their seat vacated. Aby-election is called by theLieutenant 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 as of 2020[update]; of the six completed petitions returned to Elections BC, five were rejected for having too few valid signatures.[14] The sixth, on the recall of MLAPaul Reitsma, was halted after Reitsma resigned in 1998 during the secondary verification stage.[13]
In Colombia, the recall referendum was included by theconstitution in 1991. The constitutional replacement was launched as an answer to the movement known asla 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.[clarification needed] It obliges candidates running for office to register a government plan which is later on considered to activate the recall.[clarification needed] 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.[19]
According toits constitution, Cuba is asocialist republic in which all members of representative bodies of state power are subject to recall by the masses.[20] As a principle ofsoviet democracy, similar recall provisions have been included in the constitutions of many othercommunist countries, includingthat of the Soviet Union. Although allowable according to law, in practice the right of recall was never used.
People in enjoyment of political rights may revoke the mandate of popularly elected authorities. The request for revocation of the mandate may be submitted once the first and before the last year of the period for which the authority in question was elected. During the management period of an authority, only one process of revocation of the mandate may be carried out. The revocation request must be supported by a number not less than ten percent of people registered in the corresponding electoral registry. In the case of the President of the Republic, the support of a number not less than fifteen percent of those registered in the electoral registry will be required.
— Article 105 of the Constitution of Ecuador (translated from Spanish)
Mayors may be recalled in 11 out of the16 states ofGermany. In a majority of these states recall elections are indirect, meaning that they only take place after amotion of no confidence from the municipal council of thecity. Asupermajority 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.
Article 18, Section 3 of theConstitution of Bavaria provides, that the entireLandtag 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.
Section 59 of theConstitution 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.
Article 14 of theConstitution of Latvia enables the recall of the entireSaiema, 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.
InMexico, theState 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 theSupreme Court of Justice of the Nation. A similar mechanism introduced inChihuahua in 1997 was also declared unconstitutional and consequently eliminated from law. Despite these precedents, the recall was later included in the states ofOaxaca (1998),Morelos (2011),Guerrero (2013),Zacatecas andAguascalientes.[23]
Recall regulations were introduced in Peru by theDemocratic Constituent Congress (Congreso Constituyente Democrático) which drafted a new constitution afterAlberto Fujimori'sautogolpe 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.[26]
Article 10 of the1987 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 thebarangay (village) councilors are potentially subject to recall. At least 15% of the electorate in a specific place must have their signatures verified in a petition in order for the recall to take place.[27]
The president, vice president, members of Congress, and the elected officials of theBangsamoro cannot be removed via recall.
Above the barangay level, there had been eight recall elections, of which at least 2 led to a successful recall of an incumbent; the most recent recall election was the2015 Puerto Princesa mayoral recall election.
While recalls are not provided for at the federal level in Switzerland, sixcantons allow them:[28][29]
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, thepopular 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 inAargau (1980),Baselland (1984) andLucerne (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.[28]
Article 142 of The1936 Constitution of theSoviet Union gave the right in theory to recall deputies in legislatures at all levels of government:
Article 142. It is the duty of every deputy to report to his electors on his work and on the work of theSoviet of Working People's Deputies, and he is liable to be recalled at any time in the manner established by law upon decision of a majority of the electors.
As a principle ofsoviet democracy, similar recall provisions have been widely copied in the constitutions of othercommunist countries, including thoseof Cuba,China,Vietnam,North Korea, and countries in theEastern Bloc.[30] Although allowable according to law, in practice the right of recall was never used in any soviet system of government, except for an attempt inHungary in 1989.[31]
InTaiwan, according to theAdditional 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 theLegislative Yuan, and also passed by two-thirds of all the members. The final recall must be passed in a recall election by more than one-half of the valid ballots in a vote in which more than one-half of the electorate in thefree area of the Republic of China takes part.[32]
Other elected officials can be recalled in elections by more than 1/4 of the total electors in the original electoral district, and where the number of votes consenting to the recall is more than that of dissenting.
A year after the2015 Ukrainian local elections, voters can achieve a recall election of an elected deputy or mayor if as many signatures as voters are collected.[40]
TheRecall of MPs Act 2015 (c. 25) is anAct of theParliament of the United Kingdom which mandates a recall petition to be held if aMember of Parliament is found to have committed certain wrongdoings, including any that result in a custodial prison sentence. The petitions cannot be triggered by popular initiative. The subsequent recall petition is successful if signed by at least 10% of the electorate in the MPs constituency. Successful recall leads to aby-election to fill the seat.
Submitting petitions for the recall ofSeattle, Washington, mayorHiram 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 theMassachusetts Bay Colony in 1631.[43] This version of the recall involved one elected body removing another official. During theAmerican Revolution, theArticles of Confederation stipulated that state legislatures might recall delegates from theContinental Congress.[44] According to New York Delegate John Lansing, the power was never exercised by any state. TheVirginia Plan, issued at the outset of thePhiladelphia 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.
InAlaska,Georgia,Kansas,Minnesota,Montana,Rhode Island, andWashington, 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. Anna Louise Strong, member of the Seattle School board, was recalled from her position in 1918, apparently on grounds that she was supporting extreme labour positions.[47] In the November 2010 general election,Illinois passed areferendum to amend the state constitution to allow a recall of the state's governor, in light of former GovernorRod 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.[48]
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.[49]
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.
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.[60]
2018 recall ofBowie, Maryland, city councilwoman Diane Polangin, over her vote to approve a controversial development project located in her district[65]
1983 recall of Michigan state senatorsPhil 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.
2011 recall of Neal Knight, Mayor ofCornelius, 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.[73]
2018 recall ofToledo, 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[74]
1996 recall of Carrollton Texas Mayor Gary Blanscet and council members Linda Caldwell, Bernis Francis, Stan Hampton, Bob Novinsky, Bert Colter, and Stan Sewell.[citation needed]
2011 recall of multipleKilleen, Texas, elected city officials including Mayor Pro Tem Scott Cosper and four city council members.[citation needed]
2019 recall ofRusk, Texas, city council members Jan Pate and Ken Ferrara for conduct unbecoming of a council member[75]
2020 recall ofMcKinney, Texas, city council member La'shadion Shemwell for conduct unbecoming of a council member[76]
2002 recall of multipleMilwaukee County, Wisconsin, elected county officials including ExecutiveF. Thomas Ament (resigned before election); Board ChairKaren 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.[81]
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.[91]
1967United States SenatorFrank Church ofIdaho was the subject of an unsuccessful recall effort.[92] Courts ruled that a federal official is not subject to state recall laws.
1988Evan Mecham, Governor ofArizona, 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 removed from office (via impeachment conviction) by the Senate on April 4.[93]
2003H. 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.[96]
2010, a recall proposal aimed at mayorRon Littlefield ofChattanooga, Tennessee, failed after a judge of theHamilton County, Tennesseecircuit 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".[97]
2011, theTennessee Court of Appeals ruled in November that the Hamilton County Circuit Court JudgeJeff 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.[98]
2011, an effort to recallMichigan GovernorRick Snyder was ended after organizers did not obtain enough petition signatures to appear on the ballot.[99]
2011, a petition to recall Idaho Superintendent of Public InstructionTom Luna failed to obtain the necessary signatures to force a recall election.[100]
2011 recall of Alaska State RepresentativeKyle Johansen, rejected by the state's Division of Elections on October 10.[102] Republicans in his district sponsored the recall when Johansen and fellow representativeCharisse 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.
2017: InLoveland, 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.[103]
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.
The 2004 recall referendum failed with 59.25% voting against removing Chavez from office.[105]
^Welp, Yanina (2018) "Recall referendum around the world: origins, institutional designs and current debates", in Morel, Laurence & Qvortrup, Matt. Compendium on Direct Democracy. Routledge.
^"St. John Commissioners Recalled in Election, Official Heads Lost Jobs as Result of Dismissing Policemen".The Calgary Daily Herald. December 31, 1918. p. 7.ProQuest2252602942.
^Gustafson, Barry (2013).Labour's Path to Political Independence: Origins and Establishment of the New Zealand Labour Party, 1900-19. EBL ebooks online. Auckland University Press.ISBN9781869405199. Retrieved17 Feb 2019.The 1914 election was fought primarily on the issues of the cost of living and the reform Government's handling of the 1913 strike. [...] Other questions [...] also unduly preoccupied the Labour candidates: constitutional matters, for example, such as proportional representation, the initiative, the abolition of the country quota, the referendum, and the recall of MPs.
^Welp, Yanina (2016). "Recall referendums in Peruvian municipalities: A political weapon for bad losers or an instrument of accountability?".Democratization.23 (7):1162–1179.doi:10.1080/13510347.2015.1060222.S2CID147241493.
^abJankovsky, Peter (22 March 2011). "Der Versuch, eine Exekutive zu stoppen".Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
^Serdült, Uwe (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.S2CID153335791.
^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."
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