Grassroots Update: Recall Rights
Recall, the ability of voters to petition for an election to remove a sitting politician from office, is a powerful tool that voters in many states and local jurisdictions have to hold officials accountable. At any given time there are multiple recall efforts going on all over the country, from Cape May Court House, NJ to Portland, OR citizens are seeking to recall officials that they believe are not serving their interests.
Supporters of a recent effort to recall the mayor of Akron, OH have found themselves now fighting for their right to have a recall process at all. It seems city politicians are so scared that they have put a charter amendment on the November 3 ballot aimed at killing the recall process altogether. If the amendment passes, citizens will need over six times the number of signatures currently required to trigger a recall.
In a hearing last week, the leader of the mayor recall effort referred to the proposed change as “an incumbent protection plan that would make it impossible to hold another recall. They might as well do away with the recall provision with this number of signatures. He [the mayor] wants to be even more insulated from criticism.”
While the council voted to increase the signature threshold, voters in November will still have to approve the change. You can bet that activists will be out in force protecting their right to recall come November. Stay tuned to the Citizens in Charge Foundation blog for updates on the situation.
