SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) - It was during and after the unsuccessful recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom that calls for reforming the recall process at the state level hit a fever pitch.
“There is serious concern by many legislators that the recall we saw last year was an unnecessary political exercise where no real change cost the state over 200 million dollars so we are looking at a couple of reforms in that area,” State Senator Steve Glazer said.
East Bay State Senator Steve Glazer chairs the Senate committee on elections. He says state lawmakers are looking at several reforms, among them requiring more signatures to have a recall.
“If you change the signature required from 12% of those voting from the last election which changes each election to 10% of all registered voters you have to raise the threshold by some 300,000 voters more signatures,” Glazer said.
Another reform legislators are looking at is not having a second ballot of candidates to replace the person being recalled.
“California is the exception in the country for having this second ballot so if the recall is successful you Immediately replace that person by someone who may not have the majority of the vote that's the outlier in the country it’s a situation where someone could win without a majority of the vote and we are taking a look at that as well,” Glazer said.
But there are alternatives being floated, an independent state agency called the Little Hoover Commission with what’s called a Snap Special Election.
“A snap election where the person being recalled would also appear on the candidate side for the successor election so they wouldn’t necessarily be left out or off the ballot as currently is the process,” political science professor David McCuan said.
Look for some recall reform proposal to come out of the statehouse within the next four weeks. But remember, anything the legislature approves, must also be approved by voters.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/bF4sXgq
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