Time to fix the recall process

Now that the attempted recall has gone down to the crushing defeat it deserved, it’s time to talk about reforming the process. Officials are elected to a fixed term of office and should serve their full term short of outright criminal behavior. Recalls should not be run for policy disagreements or partisan advantage.

The legislature should act next year to offer voters some simple reforms. Of the 19 states that permit recalls of statewide officials, only one other — Montana — makes it as easy as California. We should raise the threshold of qualification to a more typical 20% of voters in the last election rather than the current 12%.

If a governor dies, resigns or becomes unable to serve, they are replaced by the lieutenant governor. Why should a recall be any different? Making that change would return recall to its proper purpose and take away the incentive to put us through this expensive and wasteful process for a partisan power grab.

It would also make sense to have a serious requirement for geographic breadth. Require that the signatures include something like 5% of the voters from every assembly district. If a governor or other statewide officer truly deserves to be recalled, there would be broad support across the state for it. It should not be possible to qualify a recall with support from a few narrow geographic areas.

It’s time to learn from our mistakes and reform this process now. — David Welch, Chico