BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1311
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Date of Hearing: May 7, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS AND REDISTRICTING
Paul Fong, Chair
AB 1311 (Bradford) - As Amended: March 21, 2013
SUBJECT : Recall elections.
SUMMARY : Establishes a process for filling a vacancy in an
office that occurs after a recall petition has been filed
against the vacating officer. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the elections official or officials to verify the
signatures on the recall petition that have been submitted as
of the date of the vacancy.
2)Provides that if a sufficient number of signatures have been
filed for the recall to qualify as of the date of the vacancy,
the recall election shall proceed.
3)Provides that if an insufficient number of signatures or no
signatures were filed for the recall to qualify as of the date
of the vacancy, the recall shall not proceed and the vacancy
shall be filled as provided by law.
4)Provides that a person who is the subject of a recall petition
may not be appointed to fill the vacancy in the office that he
or she vacated nor shall that person be appointed to fill any
other vacancy in office on the same governing board for the
duration of the term of office of the seat that he or she
vacated.
5)Deletes the requirement that any person appointed to fill a
vacancy shall hold the office only until a successor is
selected.
EXISTING LAW provides that if a vacancy occurs in an office
after a recall petition is filed against the vacating officer,
the recall election shall proceed. Provides that the vacancy
shall be filled as provided by law, but any person appointed to
fill the vacancy shall hold office only until a successor is
selected and the successor qualifies for that office.
FISCAL EFFECT : Keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel.
AB 1311
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COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of the Bill : According to the author:
Questions have arisen of how current law would be
interpreted regarding the timing of a vacancy in an office
subject to a recall. Specifically, concerns have been
raised over "musical chairs" gamesmanship, where someone
might resign to avoid a recall moving forward then get
appointed to another vacancy on the same governing body.
Current law provides that if an elected official resigns
after a recall petition is filed with the county elections
official, the entire recall process, including the
requirement that an election be held, must proceed. . . .
AB 1311 addresses this conflict by clarifying the process
to be followed when the elected official resigns after
recall petitions have been filed with a county elections
office.
2)Argument in Support : Secretary of State Debra Bowen writes in
support:
Current law provides that if an elected official resigns
after a recall petition is filed with the county elections
official, the entire recall process must proceed, including
an election to remove someone who is no longer in office.
This is potentially very expensive for taxpayers who must
pay for every election.
AB 1311 clarifies the process by requiring that if an
officer resigns during the recall qualification process,
elections officials would immediately verify the number of
signatures submitted as of that date. If there were a
sufficient number of valid signatures, the recall election
would proceed. If the number of valid signatures were not
sufficient, then the recall process would end, and the
vacancy would be filled as otherwise provided by law.
AB 1311 would prohibit the person who was the subject to
the recall petition from resigning and then being appointed
to the vacated office or to any other vacancy in office on
the same governing board during the term of office for the
vacated seat. These provisions prevent misuse of statutes
regarding vacancies in office in an effort to circumvent
the recall process.
AB 1311
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3)Previous Legislation : AB 2088 (Adams) of 2010, was
substantially similar to this measure except that AB 2088
would have clarified a conflict regarding the number of
signatures that need to be verified using a random sampling
technique when recall petitions are filed. AB 2088 was vetoed
by Governor Schwarzenegger. In his veto message, Governor
Schwarzenegger said that "this bill would limit an important
power of direct democracy by limiting voters' ability to
recall an elected official and elect a replacement.
Unfortunately recall efforts can become punitive rather than a
constructive effort to replace an officeholder; however, the
recall process as a whole is an important component of the
people's right to directly change their government. Under the
provisions of this bill, an official subject to a recall could
resign and allow a successor to take their place. This limits
the ability of the voters to select the replacement through a
recall election."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Secretary of State Debra Bowen
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Lori Barber / E. & R. / (916) 319-2094