http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/recalls/procedure-recalling-state-and-local-officials/
(Elections Code §§ 322, 11005)
Chapter II — Recall of State Officers
Preliminary Steps
The Notice of Intention
To begin recall proceedings against a state officer, the recall proponents must serve, file, and publish or post a notice of intention to circulate a recall petition.
(Elections Code § 11006)
Prepare the Notice of Intention
The proponents should ensure that the notice of intention complies with California law. If a notice of intention is found to be deficient, the proponents will be required to prepare a new notice of intention, including the collection of signatures. The notice of intention must contain:
- The name and title of the officer sought to be recalled.
- A statement, not over two hundred words in length, of the reasons for the recall. A reason must be provided, but under Article II, Section 14(a) of the California Constitution, the sufficiency of this reason is not reviewable.
- The printed name, signature, and residence address of each proponent of the recall. If a proponent cannot receive mail at his or her residence address, the notice of intention must also contain a mailing address for the proponent. The number of proponents that sign the notice of intention must be at least 10 or equal to the number of signatures required to be filed on the nomination paper of the officer sought to be recalled, whichever is greater.
- The text of Elections Code section 11023, which describes how the officer sought to be recalled may file an answer.[See Exhibit C] (Elections Code §§ 11020, 11041(a)(2))
Serve and File the Notice of Intention
A copy of the notice of intention must be served by personal delivery or by certified mail on the officer sought to be recalled. In addition, the original of the notice of intention, along with an affidavit of the time and manner of service, must be filed with the Secretary of State within seven days of being served. A separate notice of intention must be filed for each officer sought to be recalled.
[See Exhibits A and B] (Elections Code § 11021)
Publish the Notice of Intention
A copy of the notice of intention (including addresses and signatures) must be published at the proponents’ expense at least once in a newspaper of general circulation. The publication need not include the text of Elections Code section 11023. If there is no newspaper of general circulation in the jurisdiction of the officer whose recall is being sought, the proponents may satisfy the publication requirement by posting the notice of intention in at least three public places within the jurisdiction.
(Government Code § 6000, et seq.; Elections Code § 11022)
Obtain and File Proof of Publication
The proponents must file proof of publication at the same time that they file two blank copies of the proposed recall petition with the Secretary of State.1Proof of publication is obtained from the newspaper publisher after the notice of intention appears in print.
(Elections Code § 11042)
Answer of Recallee
Within seven days after the filing of the notice of intention, the officer sought to be recalled may file with the Secretary of State an answer of not more than two hundred words.
(Elections Code §11023(a))
The answer must be signed and accompanied by the printed name, and business or residence address of the officer sought to be recalled.
(Elections Code § 11023(c))
If an answer is filed, the officer must, within seven days after the filing of the Notice of intention, serve a copy of the answer, by personal delivery or by certified mail, on one of the proponents named in the notice.
(Elections Code § 11023(b))
Prepare the Recall Petition
The next step in the recall process for state officials requires the proponents to prepare the recall petition for circulation. The Secretary of State is required to provide a format for the petition, which is included as Exhibit D to this publication; may also be obtained from any county elections official. The recall petition format prepared by the Secretary of State is mandatory and must be used.
(Elections Code §§ 11041, 11043.5)
All petition sections must be printed in uniform size and darkness with uniform spacing.
[See Exhibit D] (Elections Code § 11041)
Noncomplying petition forms will be rejected as invalid.
Heading
The recall petition must include a margin at least one inch wide across the top of each page and a margin at least one-half inch wide along the bottom of each page.
(Elections Code § 11043)
Each side of a sheet of paper on which signatures appear must include, in no less than 8-point type:
- A request that an election be called to elect a successor to the office.2
- A copy of the Notice of intention, including the statement of reasons for recall, and the names (no addresses) of at least ten proponents.3 The text of Elections Code section 11023 does not need to be included as part of the language of the Notice of intention on the petition.
- The answer, if any, of the officer sought to be recalled. If the officer has not answered, the petition must so state.(Elections Code § 11041)
Signature Space
Each signer must personally place his or her own information on the petition and must personally sign it (unless prevented by disability, etc.). The petition must be designed so that each signer can personally affix his or her:
- Printed name
- Signature
- Residence address, giving street and number, or if no street or number exists, an adequate designation of the residence so that its location may be readily determined.
- The name of the incorporated city or unincorporated community.(Elections Code §§ 100, 11043)
Pursuant to the California Supreme Court’s decision in Assembly v. Deukmejian (1982) 30 Cal.3d 638, 180 Cal.Rptr. 297, the petition form must direct signers to include their "residence address" rather than "address as registered" or other address.
Signature spaces must be consecutively numbered commencing with the number one for each petition section.
(Elections Code § 100)
A space at least one inch wide must be left blank along the right margin of the page, after each name and address, for the use of the elections official in verifying the petition.
(Elections Code §§ 100, 11043)
Declaration of Circulator
Each section of the petition must have attached to it a declaration signed by the circulator (person soliciting signatures) of that section of the petition, setting forth in the circulator’s own hand all of the following:
- The printed name of the circulator.
- The residence address of the circulator, giving street and number, or if no street or number exists, an adequate designation of the residence so that its location may be readily determined.
- The dates between which all signatures to the petition section were obtained.
- That the circulator circulated that section and witnessed the appended signatures being written.
- That according to the best information and belief of the circulator, each signature is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be.
- That the circulator is 18 years of age or older.
- That the circulator certifies to the content of the declaration as to its truth and correctness, under penalty of perjury. The circulator shall state the date and the place of execution on the declaration along with his or her signature.
The circulator must personally affix his or her printed name and residence address and the specific dates of circulationof each petition section in the circulator’s affidavit. Preprinted dates, or generalized dates other than the particular range of dates on which the petition section was circulated, are not authorized.
(Elections Code §§ 104, 11046)
Number of Sections
Petitions to recall state officers may consist of any number of separate sections which must be duplicates except as to signatures and matters required to be affixed by signers and circulators. The number of signatures attached to each section is left up to the discretion of the person soliciting the signatures. Each section may consist of any number of separate pages. One page is one side of a sheet of paper on which any signatures appear.
(Elections Code § 11040)
Receive Approval of the Recall Petition
Proponents must file two blank copies of the proposed petition with the Secretary of State within ten days after the filing of the answer to the notice of intention, or, if no answer is filed, within ten days after the expiration of the seven-day period for filing the answer. The Secretary of State must, within ten days of receiving the copies of the petition, determine whether the proposed form and wording of the petition meet the necessary requirements and notify proponents in writing of the findings. If it is found that the petition does not meet the requirements, the notification must include a statement of what alterations in the petition are necessary. Then, the proponents must file two blank copies of the corrected petition with the Secretary of State within ten days after receiving the notification.
The submitted blank copies of the petition will be carefully reviewed for uniformity correctness and will be compared to the notice of intention and publication to assure accuracy in text, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, format, etc. If the comparison discloses discrepancies, the petition will be rejected.
The ten-day correction notification period and ten-day filing period for corrected petitions is repeated until the Secretary of State finds that no alterations are required. No signatures may be obtained on the recall petition until the form of the petition has been approved by the Secretary of State.
(Elections Code § 11042)
Determine the Number of Signatures Required
Statewide Officer
For a recall of a statewide officer, a petition must be signed by registered voters equal in number to twelve percent (12%) of the last vote for the office. Signatures must be obtained from at least five different counties and must be equal in number to at least one percent (1%) of the last vote for the office in each of five counties.
(Cal. Const., Art. II, Sec. 14(b); Elections Code § 11221(c))
State Senators, Members of the Assembly, Members of the Board of Equalization, and Judges of the Courts of Appeal
The number of signatures needed on the petition to recall State Senators, Members of the Assembly, Members of the Board of Equalization and Judges of Courts of Appeal must equal at least twenty percent (20%) of the last vote for the office.
(Cal. Const., Art. II, Sec. 14(b); Elections Code § 11221(c))
Circulate the Recall Petition
Who Can Circulate
The recall petition can be circulated by any person 18 years of age or older.
(Elections Code §§ 102, 11045)
Who Can Sign Petition
Registered voters who are qualified to vote for the office of the officer sought to be recalled can sign a recall petition.
(Elections Code §§ 322, 11045)
If a recall petition is circulated in more than one county, a separate section should be used for each county. Each section of the petition must include the name of the county for which it is circulated, and only registered voters of that county may sign that section.
(Elections Code § 11047)
Withdrawal of Signatures
Any voter may withdraw his or her signature from the recall petition upon filing a written request with the county elections official prior to the day the petition section on which the signature appears is filed.
(Elections Code §§ 103, 11303)
File the Petition – Deadline
Within 160 days from the time the Secretary of State notifies the proponents that the form and wording of the petition is correct, proponents must file a petition with the requisite number of valid signatures.
(Cal. Const., Art. II, Sec. 14(a))
Each section of a recall petition must be filed with the elections official of the county for which it was circulated. Each petition section shall be filed by the proponents or by any person or persons authorized in writing by a proponent. A copy of any written authorization must accompany each submission to the elections official.
(Elections Code §§ 11102, 11103)
Duties of the County Elections official
Thirty days after a recall has been initiated, and every thirty days thereafter, the elections official determines the number of qualified voters who have signed the recall petition. Upon the completion of the examination, the county elections official certifies and submits the results and an unsigned copy of the petition to the Secretary of State.
(Elections Code § 11104)
Duties of the Secretary of State
The Secretary of State maintains a continuous count of the signatures certified by each county. When the Secretary of State receives from one or more county elections officials, a petition certified to have been signed by the stated number of registered voters, he or she must, within ten days, transmit to every county elections official in the state a certificate showing the total number of signatures collected by the proponents.
(Cal. Const., Art. II, Sec. 14(c); Elections Code § 11108)
After determining that the proponents have obtained sufficient signatures for recall, the Secretary of State must certify that fact to the Governor.
(Elections Code § 11109)
Only Proponents May Examine Petition
If a petition is found to be insufficient by the Secretary of State, the proponents whose names are listed on the notice of intention must be allowed to examine the petition signatures in order to ascertain which signatures were disqualified and the reasons therefor. This right of examination is not otherwise available to proponents or to the public in general. If the proponents examine the petition signatures, the examination must begin not later than 21 days after certification of insufficiency.
(Government Code § 6253.5, Elections Code § 11301)
Notice of Recall Election
Upon receiving certification of the sufficiency of the recall petition from the Secretary of State, the Governor must publish a notice for the holding of the recall election.
Election
An election to determine whether to recall an officer and, if appropriate, to elect a successor, shall be called by the Governor and held not less than 60 days nor more than 80 days from the date of certification of sufficient signatures.
(Cal. Const., Art. II, Sec. 15(a))
The recall election may be conducted within 180 days from the date of certification of sufficient signatures in order that the election may be consolidated with the next regularly scheduled election occurring wholly or partially within the same jurisdiction in which the recall election is held, if the number of voters eligible to vote at that next regularly scheduled election equal to at least fifty percent (50%) of all the voters eligible to vote at the recall election.
(Cal. Const., Art. II, Sec. 15(a))
Officers charged by law with duties concerning elections are required to make all arrangements for such election. The election must be conducted, returns canvassed, and the result declared, in all respects as are other state elections.
(Elections Code § 11110)
Chapter III — Recall of Local Officers
Preliminary Steps
The Notice of Intenti
Solar 