Laws governing recall in Michigan

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The citizens of Michigan are granted the authority to perform a recall election by Section 8 of Article II of the Michigan Constitution. Recall is a process whereby voters can remove an elected official from office prior to the end of his or her term by a special election.

All elected officials in the state are subject to recall except judges of courts of record. This right of recall was created in 1908.^[1] Michigan and Oregon, which also created the right of recall in 1908, were the first two states to adopt statewide recall procedures.^[2]

Michigan is one of nine states with provisions that say that the right of recall extends to recalling members of its federal congressional delegation, but it has not been clear whether federal courts would allow states to actually recall their federal politicians.^[3]

Michigan officeholders who are subject to recall and hold terms longer than two years cannot be recalled in the first or last year of their current term in office. Those who hold terms shorter than two years cannot be recalled in the first or last six months of their current term of office.^[4]

Recall process

• A recall petition must first be filed with the appropriate board, which then holds a hearing to determine whether the reason for the petition is clear and factual. Those are the only criteria considered by the board to approve or reject the petition.^[4] Click here to learn more about these hearings and which board conducts them.
• Once approved by the board, the petitioner must collect a number of signatures equal to 25% of the number of votes cast in the last general election in the electoral district of the officer sought to be recalled.^[5] The petitioner has 60 days to collect these signatures beginning on the date the first signature is collected. The petition must be submitted no later than 180 days after it was approved by the board. For the recall of state officials, the petition is submitted to the Michigan Secretary of State; for local officials, the petition is submitted to the county or township clerk in the county where the official resides.^[6]
• The clerk or the Secretary of State then has 35 days to determine the validity of the signatures on the petition by verifying the voter registration status of those who signed. If the petition is approved, a special recall election is scheduled. "The recall election shall be held not less than 95 days after the date the recall petition is filed and shall be held on the next May regular election date or the next November regular election date, whichever occurs first."^[7]

Changes to the recall process

Governor Rick Snyder (R) signed legislation into law in 2012 that changed the recall process in Michigan. These changes included:^[4][8]

• Changed the number of days petitioners had to gather signatures from 90 to 60.
• Required petitions to be clear and factual. Under the previous process, petitions only needed to be clear.
• Gave responsibility for receiving and reviewing recall petitions for state officials to the Board of State Canvassers. Before, county election commissions had that responsibility for both state and local officials.
• Excluded recalls during the first and last years of officials' terms if they were elected to four-year terms.
• Consolidated recall elections and the election to fill the vacancy such that sufficient recall petitions trigger an election to fill the remaining term of the official targeted for recall, with the target automatically included on the ballot as the incumbent. The candidate that receives the highest vote total becomes the elected official. If the incumbent targeted for recall does not receive the highest vote total, the recall is successful and removes the official from office.

Signature requirements

The number of valid signatures required to force a recall election is equal to 25 percent of the number of people who voted in the last preceding election for the office of governor of Michigan in the electoral district of the officer for whom a recall is sought.^[5]

Clarity and factual hearing

A clarity and factual hearing is the first step in the recall process. Michigan laws state that the reason for petition must be deemed clear and factual before the recall petition can be placed in circulation.^[4]

Laws governing clarity and factual hearings are as follow:

• Recall petitions targeting state and county officers (except county commissioners) must be filed with the Board of State Canvassers (BSC) prior to circulation. The BSC will make clarity/factual determinations, with appeals to the Court of Appeals.^[4]
• Recall petitions targeting all local officials, including county commissioners, will be submitted to the board of county election commissioners for clarity/factual determinations, with appeals to the circuit court.^[4][9]
• The clarity/factual hearing must be held between 10 and 20 days after the filing of the petition. If the hearing does not take place in the required timeframe, the petition will be automatically considered to be sufficiently factual and clear.^[4][9]

Preparation and circulation

Prior to circulating a recall petition, the circulator must complete the forms included with the petition.^[10] Petition signers must be qualified, registered electors in the electoral district of the official.^[11] Signers must also be registered to vote in the city or township specified in the heading of the petition.^[12]

Petition filing

Recall petitions against state officials are filed with the Michigan Secretary of State unless it is a recall of the secretary of state, in which case it is filed with the governor. Local recall petitions are filed with the county clerk.^[6]

Process recall petitions

After a recall petition is filed with the relevant election office:

Signature challenges

The officer may challenge the validity of a circulator or signer of the petition. This must be filed within 30 days after the filing of the recall petition.^[15]

Scheduling the recall election

If enough signatures on a recall petition are verified to put the recall on the ballot, a recall election must "be held not less than 95 days after the date the recall petition is filed and shall be held on the next May regular election date or the next November regular election date, whichever occurs first."^[13]

Filling vacancies

A sufficient recall petition triggers an election to fill the remaining term of the official targeted for recall, with the target automatically included on the ballot as the incumbent. The candidate that receives the highest vote total becomes the elected official. If the incumbent targeted for recall does not receive the highest vote total, the recall is successful and removes the incumbent from office.^[16]

See also

• Ballotpedia's Recall Report
• Laws governing recall
• Recall campaigns in Michigan
• States that have pre-petition signature requirements for recalls
• States that require grounds for recalls

External links

• National Conference of State Legislatures, Statewide Recall
• Michigan Bureau of Elections, Recall Procedures

Footnotes