California voters say it’s time to reform recall elections, poll shows

Nearly four in five likely California voters are in favor of changing the state’s process for recalling elected officials according to a new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California.

The survey comes nearly two months after an unsuccessful attempt to remove Gov. Gavin Newsom. The first-term Democrat defeated the recall with 62% of the vote — the same margin he won when he was elected in 2018.

Between former Gov. Gary Davis in 2003 and Newsom, two of California’s last four governors have faced recall elections. That’s one reason some argue it should be harder to qualify a recall.

Some complain the process for qualifying a recall, typically done through petition signatures, is too easy. Others argue the method for picking a replacement candidate could result in a winner taking office with support from only a small minority of voters.

Last month lawmakers held a joint meeting of the State Senate and Assembly elections committees to broach the topic of changing the recall. Both Democratic and Republican legislators said they’re open to tweaking the process, but there remains no consensus on what exactly the change should look like.

Republicans, including Assemblyman Kelly Seyarto, R-Murrieta, said last month they are open to changing the recall in a way that makes it more efficient or conducts it in a better manner, but they are cautious about diluting an avenue of direct democracy.

“This is the last bastion of checks and balances we offer for the voters,” Seyarto said at the meeting.

Outside of the Capitol, the new poll shows half of all likely voters say major changes are needed while 28% say the changes needed are minor.

Although 79% of likely voters saying the special election to recall Newsom was a “waste of money,” likely voters aren’t ready to throw out the recall process altogether.

California voters strongly believe that it is a “good thing” that the California Constitution provides a way to recall the state’s elected officials, according to the poll.

A recall runoff election?

Pollsters tested three possible changes to the recall, and all received a majority of support among likely voters.

The one with the most support — backed by 72% — is the idea of a runoff election between the top two replacement candidates in the event that no one wins more than 50% of the vote.

Had that law been in place during the Newsom recall, it would have resulted in a runoff between Republican Larry Elder, who earned 48.5% of the vote on question two, and Democrat Kevin “Meet Kevin” Paffrath, who earned 9.6%.

The concept of adding a top-two runoff to the recall has majority support among Democrats (80%), Republicans (56%) and independents (74%).

Under the current process, an elected official can be recalled for any reason, or no reason at all. Sixty-four percent of likely voters said they’d support changing the law so an official could only be recalled for illegal or unethical activity.

This is the case in several other states that allow recalls. In Kansas, for example, voters can only remove an official in the event of a felony conviction, misconduct in office or failure to perform duties prescribed by the law.

Democrats showed strong support for this change (81%) while Republicans were less enthusiastic (38%). Among independents, 57% supported the idea of requiring a reason for a recall.

Raising threshold for California recall

The change least favored by Republicans would increase the petition signature threshold from 12% to 25% of total votes cast in the previous election.

Overall, 64% of likely voters support raising the requirement, but only 29% of Republicans compared to 84% of Democrats and 61% of independents.

Democrats in the Assembly and State Senate have said they want any changes to have bipartisan support. Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of PPIC, said in a blog post that Legislators should act sooner rather than later to capitalize on public support for changes.

“Asking state voters to make changes to the California Constitution is always a heavy lift, especially in these divisive times when election reforms may be viewed cynically, as partisan maneuvers for political gain,” he said. “Nonetheless, state leaders should seize the moment and give the voters a chance to weigh in on improvements to the California recall process.”

This story was originally published November 10, 2021 at 2:35 PM.