BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1311
Author: Bradford (D)
Amended: 3/21/13 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS & CONST. AMEND. COMM. : 5-0, 7/2/13
AYES: Torres, Anderson, Hancock, Padilla, Yee
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 57-14, 5/13/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Recall elections
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill establishes a process for filling a vacancy
in an office that occurs after a recall petition has been filed
against the vacating officer.
ANALYSIS : 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. 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.
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.
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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/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/she
vacated.
5.Deletes the requirement that any person appointed to fill a
vacancy shall hold the office only until a successor is
selected.
Background
The question of how existing law would be interpreted regarding
the timing of a vacancy in an office subject to a recall was
raised several times during recall efforts which occurred during
the last few years. Specifically, concern was raised over the
possibility of an officeholder subject to a recall effort
resigning to avoid the recall election then get appointed to
another vacancy on the same governing body.
Prior Legislation
AB 2088 (Adams, 2010), was substantially similar to this bill
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
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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."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/8/13)
Secretary of State
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Secretary of State Debra Bowen writes:
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.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 57-14, 5/13/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra,
Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon,
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Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson,
Eggman, Fong, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gray,
Grove, Hall, Roger Hern�ndez, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder,
Medina, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Olsen, Pan,
Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas,
Skinner, Stone, Ting, Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NOES: Bigelow, Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Hagman,
Harkey, Jones, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Morrell,
Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Ammiano, Fox, Gorell, Holden,
Lowenthal, Nestande, Quirk, Vacancy
RM:ej 7/8/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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