BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2088
Author: Adams (R)
Amended: 4/26/10 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE ELEC., REAP. & CONST. AMEND. COMM. : 5-0, 6/15/10
AYES: Hancock, Denham, DeSaulnier, Liu, Strickland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/13/10 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Recall elections
SOURCE : Secretary of State Debra Bowen
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 nevertheless
proceed. The vacancy will be filled as provided by law but
any person appointed to fill the vacancy will hold office
only until a successor is elected per the recall election.
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. Specifically, this bill:
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1. Requires elections officials to immediately verify the
signatures on the recall petition that have been
submitted as of the date of the vacancy and 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.
2. Provides that if an insufficient number of signatures or
no signatures were filed for the recall to qualify as
the date of the vacancy, the recall shall not proceed
and the vacancy shall be filled as otherwise provided by
current law.
3. 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.
Existing law provides that for the recall of a state
officer, if fewer than 500 signatures for a recall petition
are submitted to the county elections official, he or she
shall count the number of signatures and submit those
results to the Secretary of State. If 500 or more
signatures are submitted, the elections official may
verify, using a random sampling technique, either 3 percent
of the signatures submitted, or 500, whichever is less.
This bill instead provides that for the recall of a state
officer, if more than 500 signatures are submitted for a
recall petition, the elections official may verify, using a
random sampling technique, either 3 percent of the
signatures submitted, or 500, whichever is greater.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/17/10)
Secretary of State Debra Bowen (source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
this bill clarifies the recall process in the event an
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elected official subject to a recall resigns during the
process. 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. In
addition, there is a conflict in statute regarding how the
random sampling of signatures used to qualify a recall for
the ballot must be conducted. This bill addresses this
conflict and clarifies the process to be followed when the
elected official resigns after recall petitions have been
filed with a county elections office. This bill also
eliminates a conflicting statute regarding the random
sampling of signatures that must be verified to qualify a
recall election for the ballot.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block,
Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De
La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer,
Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland,
Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines,
Yamada, John A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Caballero, Norby, Skinner, Vacancy
DLW:do 6/17/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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