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Any incumbent of an elected office, whether elected by vote of the people or appointed to fill a vacancy, may be removed from office by the registered voters of the City of Los Angeles, or the registered voters of the School District in the case of removal of a member of the Board of Education. The removal of the incumbent shall be known as the recall.
A recall petition shall comply with the provisions of the Charter and the City Election Code. The following shall apply to all recall petitions:
(a) To qualify for presentation to the City Council, a recall petition shall be signed by registered voters equal in number to at least 15% of the registered voters eligible to vote for the office, the incumbent of which is sought to be removed. The 15% shall be computed upon the number of registered voters on the date of filing with the City Clerk of the Notice of Intention to circulate the petition described in subsection (b) of this section. If the recall petition concerns removal of a member of Council, or member of the Board of Education, the 15% shall be computed upon the total number of registered voters within the Council district or Board district from which the Council member, or member of the Board of Education was elected. Only signatures of registered voters living within the Council district or Board district, as the case may be, shall be counted in computing the 15%, and only voters residing within the district shall be entitled to vote at the election. All names signed to a petition must have been secured within the time period described in subsection (d), and any signature affixed outside of this time period shall not be counted in determining the sufficiency of the petition.
(b) Before submitting a recall petition for signatures, its proponents shall publish a Notice of Intention and a Statement of Reasons (Statement) for the proposed recall. No such notice shall be effective if published: (1) before the officer has held his or her current term of office for three months, or (2) within six months of the expiration of the current term of office, or (3) within six months after a recall election at which the officer was retained in office. The Statement shall be served on the officer to be recalled and on the City Clerk, and shall otherwise comply with requirements of the City Election Code. The sufficiency of the Statement shall not be subject to review by the Council; however, the petition, when circulated, shall have attached to it an affidavit of one or more of the proponents that all of the facts contained in the Statement are true.
(c) The officer whose recall is sought, or anyone acting upon his or her behalf, may publish an Answer to the Statement (Answer) in accordance with the requirements of the City Election Code. If an Answer is published, it shall be served on the proponent of the recall and on the City Clerk, and shall otherwise comply with requirements of the City Election Code. The Statement and Answer are intended solely for the information of the voters and no insufficiency in their form or substance shall affect in any manner the validity of the proceedings taken under the Charter.
(d) Within the time after the publication and service of the Statement as provided in the City Election Code, the petition demanding the recall of the officer may be circulated for signatures. The petition shall contain a copy of the Statement and any Answer, and shall otherwise be in a form prescribed by the City Election Code. Signatures shall be secured and the petition filed within 120 days from the first day to circulate.
(e) Except as otherwise provided, the provisions of this Article relating to the form and to the mode of signing initiative petitions, and to the filing, examining, certifying, supplementing, presenting to the Council and the retaining thereof, shall apply to any petition filed with the City Clerk under this section. The sufficiency or insufficiency of any recall petition shall not be subject to review by the Council.
When a recall petition is presented to the Council by the City Clerk, the Council shall within 20 days, by order or ordinance, call for the holding of a special election, and if necessary a special runoff election, for the purpose of submitting to the voters of the City at large, of the Council district, or of the Board district, as the case may be, the question of whether the officer shall be recalled, and if recalled, for the election of his or her successor. The special election shall be held not less than 88 days nor more than 125 days after the date of Council action on the petition; provided, however, that if any other election for any purpose at which all the qualified voters of the City, of the Council District, or of the Board District, as the case may be, are entitled to vote, is to occur during that time period, the Council shall order the holding of the recall election and the consolidation thereof with such other election.
SECTION HISTORY
Amended by: Charter Amendment 1, approved March 3, 2015, effective April 2, 2015; Charter Amendment 2, approved March 3, 2015, effective April 2, 2015.
Any incumbent of an office whose removal is sought may file with the City Clerk an Argument Opposing the Recall, justifying the incumbent's course in office. The person filing the recall petition, or the person or organization on whose behalf a recall petition was filed, shall have the right to present to the City Clerk an Argument Supporting the Recall. Arguments supporting and opposing the recall shall be submitted to the City Clerk and distributed to the voters in compliance with the requirements of the City Election Code.
SECTION HISTORY
Amended by: Charter Amendment E, approved November 6, 2018, effective December 14, 2018; Charter Amendment EE, approved November 6, 2018, effective December 14, 2018.
In addition to the question of whether the incumbent shall be removed from office, each recall ballot shall also list the names of all persons who have been nominated as candidates to succeed the person whose removal is sought. The name of the incumbent shall not appear on the ballot as a candidate for the office. If a majority of the registered voters voting on the matter vote in favor of the recall, then the incumbent shall be removed from office effective on the date the successor qualifies.
SECTION HISTORY
Amended by: Charter Amendment B, approved May 17, 2005, effective June 7, 2005.
Any candidate to be voted for at a recall election, other than the incumbent sought to be removed, may be nominated by petition, which petition shall conform to the provisions of the Charter, so far as applicable, relating to nominating petitions at primary nominating elections. Nominating petitions may be circulated upon the City Clerk’s certificate of sufficiency of the recall petition. Each nominating petition must be filed with the City Clerk within the time established in the ordinance calling the special election. The City Clerk shall ascertain whether or not the petition is signed by the requisite number of registered voters of the City, Council district, or Board district, as the case may be, in accordance with the requirements of the Charter and the City Election Code. The City Election Code shall govern the circumstances under which and process by which insufficient petitions may be supplemented.
If the vote at any recall election shall recall an officer of the City of Los Angeles, or a member of the Board of Education, then the candidate who receives a majority of the votes cast for candidates to succeed the officer removed shall be declared elected for the remainder of the term. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes at the recall election shall be candidates at a special runoff election, and whichever candidate receives the majority vote at that election shall be elected to succeed the recalled officer.
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