Recall election

A recall election is an election called in the middle of an elected official's term of office when a sufficient proportion of the electorate deems it intolerable or inappropriate to allow that official to complete his term. Its use is rare, and usually confined to local offices.

Eighteen states within the United States provide, in their laws, for the mid-term recall of state-level elected officials. Federal law does not provide for the popular recall of a President of the United States, but the various State-level recall laws often provide for the recall, not only of State officials but also of their Senators and Representatives in Congress. (To date no Senator or Representative has been recalled mid-term from his office, but a case is now pending in New Jersey to test the proposition that a State may recall its Senator.

Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger replaced California's governor Gray Davis, a Democrat, at a recall election in 2003.

History

In the early 20th century, the Progressive Movement, especially in western states, sought more direct democracy by promoting the recall, along with the initiative (the people petition to put a new law on the ballot), referendum (people vote on major laws proposed by the lefislature), direct election of senators (election was by the state legislature), and woman suffrage. When the territory of Arizona in 1911 submitted its new constitution to Washington in order to become a state, conservative President William Howard Taft insisted on removing the recall provision because it would allow recall of state judges. The recall was removed, Taft signed the statehood bill on February 14, 1912, and state residents promptly put the provision back in.

California

A recall has been part of California's political system since 1911. [1]

In September 1938, Los Angeles Mayor Frank L. Shaw was removed from office in a reacall election after serving 14 years. This results was the major victory of a multi-interest urban reform movement that successfully portrayed Shaw as the despot of a corrupt political machine financed by big business and underworld interests. With the aid of a police scandal and the wealth of one recall leader, the reform candidate won a landslide victory. After the election, the reform coalition disintegrated when the various single-issue groups found that they were not the dominant influence in the new city administration.

Further reading

• Allswang, John. California Initiatives and Referendums, 1912-1990: A Survey and Guide to Research (1991)