BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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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, Chávez, Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson,  
            Eggman, Fong, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gray,  
            Grove, Hall, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder,  
            Medina, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Olsen, Pan,  
            Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas,  
            Skinner, Stone, Ting, Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,  
            Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          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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