How does a California recall election work? It’s complicated

Californians are embarking on an unusual year in politics.

As the state works to recover from the pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing a recall attempt. Although the reasons for wanting to oust the governor vary from person to person, many say they’re frustrated with his COVID-19 policies around closing businesses, schools and other industries that have been allowed to opened in other states.

A recall, unlike an impeachment, allows voters to decide directly whether or not to keep an elected official. California has a relatively easy process for doing this, compared to other states, but recall attempts don’t often succeed. The only successful gubernatorial recall happened in 2003, when voters decided to replace Democratic Gov. Gray Davis with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In case you weren’t around in 2003, or need a refresher, here’s how recalls work in California:

Gather signatures

Anyone who wants to recall a governor in California needs to collect a certain amount of signatures in order to trigger a special recall election. Other states require some sort of reason for recalling – like treason or a felony. But the California Constitution merely requires the number of signatures to be equal to 12% of the votes cast in the last election.

In the case of Newsom, that’s about 1.5 million signatures.

Recall proponents started gathering signatures in June and originally had just 160 days to do so. But because COVID-19 hurt their ability to meet people in person, a Sacramento judge granted them 120-day extension to March 17.

That extension proved key for the recall effort, and by St. Patrick’s Day, campaign organizers said they had collected more than 2.1 million signatures.

Verification process

County election officials must verify the 2.1 million signatures submitted by the recall effort. Election officials have until April 29 to verify them, at which point they must report their validated totals to the Secretary of State.

Election officials will look for fake names, repeats and other red flags that would disqualify a signature. The latest report from the Secretary of State’s office showed that about 84% of recall signatures are valid. That rate could fluctuate as election officials continue to count signatures, and it’s why recall proponents turned in nearly 600,000 more signatures then they technically needed.

After counties submit their reports of valid signatures, the Secretary of State then has 10 days to notify county elections officials if there were enough signatures. That deadline is expect to fall around May 9.

Once the Secretary of State makes that confirmation, there is a 30 day “signature withdrawal period,” where any voter who has signed the petition may withdraw their names from the recall. That period ends around June 21, after which counties have another 10 days to notify the state if anyone has withdrawn their names.

State agencies then must take several steps before an election is scheduled. The Department of Finance and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee both get a chance to review the signature results and analyze the cost, which could take several weeks.

Once the Secretary of State certifies the results, which is expected to happen in mid-September, the lieutenant governor must schedule a recall election between 60 and 80 days from the date of certification.

Assuming the verification process takes its full amount of time, Californians can expect to vote in a recall election in mid-to-late November.

Who can run?

Anyone, really.

A recall ballot has two questions. The first question will ask the voter whether or not they want to recall Gavin Newsom. The second question will ask who should succeed Newsom if he is recalled.

In order to run for governor, a candidate must be a U.S. citizen, a registered voter, and can’t have any felonies involving the misuse of public money on their record.

The California Constitution mentions that a gubernatorial candidate must be a resident of the state for at least five years, but according to 2018 guidance from the Secretary of State, the office considers that requirement to be unconstitutional and unenforceable.

The filing fee for a gubernatorial candidate is about $4,000, or if they don’t want to pay that, 7,000 signatures.

In 2003, 135 candidates stepped up to put their names on the ballot to recall Gray Davis. So far, a handful of Republicans have launched campaigns in the recall, including former Newsom opponent John Cox, Kevin Faulconer, the former mayor of San Diego, and former GOP Congressman Doug Ose.

Election day and possible outcomes

If there is a recall election, it’s largely going to be conducted through vote-by-mail ballots.

Newsom earlier this year signed Senate Bill 29, which will automatically send California voters a ballot in the mail for 2021 elections, similar to the way in which the state conducted the 2020 election.

In order for Newsom to hold his seat, a simple majority of voters (at least 50% plus one) must vote against recalling him. If the majority of voters choose to recall him, the candidate with the most votes from question two will finish out Newsom’s term, which runs until the end of 2022.

This story was originally published March 23, 2021 at 5:00 AM.