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Laws governing recall in Florida

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A recall election is the process by which citizens may remove elected officials from office before the expiration of their terms. This article summarizes the laws governing recall elections in Florida. Florida allows for the recall of some local officials but does not allow for the recall of state officials.

In 39 states, local officials can be subject to recall elections. Of those, 19 also permit recalls of state-level officials. Eleven states do not permit recalls of elected officials at any level. Click here for more information.

Offices subject to recall

Federal officials

The U.S. Constitution does not provide for the recall of elected federal officials. While some state constitutions have stated that their citizens have the right to recall members of Congress, the Supreme Court has never ruled on whether such recalls are constitutional.[1] Ballotpedia does not provide coverage of federal recalls. Click here for more information.

State officials

Florida law does not provide for the recall of state officials.[2]

Local officials

According to Fla. Stat. Annotated §100.36(1), "Any member of the governing body of a municipality or charter county, hereinafter referred to in this section as 'municipality,' may be removed from office by the electors of the municipality," regardless of whether the municipality in question has a recall provision.[3]

Florida has 67 counties, and as of 2025, 20 of these counties were charter counties. Florida's charter counties are:[4]

Process

Prerequisites

Term length

A recall cannot begin until the targeted official has served at least one-fourth of his or her term in office.[3]

Reasons for recall

See also: Requirements for recall

Grounds for the recall must be provided. There are seven allowable grounds. They are "malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, permanent inability to perform official duties, and conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude."[3]

Florida is one of 12 states that require specific reasons for a recall.

Petition

Initial signature requirement

See also: Florida signature requirements
  • From the time that the recall petition is approved for circulation, signatures must be collected within 30 days.[3]
  • Once signatures are collected, the designated chair of the recall committee that collected the signatures must present them to "the auditor or clerk of the municipality or charter county, or his or her equivalent."[3]
  • The clerk who received the signatures must then convey the signatures to the Supervisor of Elections for the county within which the recall is taking place. The Supervisor of Elections must then proceed to inspect the signatures; a process that is by the relevant statute confined to 30 days.[3]
  • The group seeking the recall must pay, to the county's supervisor of elections in advance, "...the sum of 10 cents for each signature checked or the actual cost of checking such signatures, whichever is less."[3]

The signature requirement varies based on the number of registered voters in the jurisdiction.[3]

Number of registered voters in jurisdiction Signature requirement
Fewer than 500 50 registered voters, or 10%
500-1,999 100 registered voters, or 10%, whichever is greater
2,000-4,999 250 registered voters, or 10%, whichever is greater
5,000-9,999 500 registered voters, or 10%, whichever is greater
10,000-24,999 1,000 registered voters, or 10%, whichever is greater
25,000 or more 1,000 registered voters, or 5%, whichever is greater

Statement of defense

If the county supervisor of elections determines that sufficient signatures have been filed to force a recall election, he or she must provide a written statement to that effect to the clerk of the relevant jurisdiction. That clerk must then "...at once serve upon the person sought to be recalled a certified copy of the petition. Within 5 days after service, the person sought to be recalled may file with the clerk a defensive statement of not more than 200 words."[3]

Once the five days have elapsed, the clerk must then prepare a form called the "Recall Petition and Defense," which includes the defense statement from the recall target (but only if the recall target provides such a defense statement). The "Recall Petition and Defense" is then presented by the clerk to the recall committee.[3]

Second set of signatures

After receiving the "Recall Petition and Defense," the recall committee must then collect more signatures, equalling "15% of the electors" in the relevant jurisdiction within 60 days after the time that the "Recall Petition and Defense" was delivered by the jurisdiction's clerk to the chair of the recall committee.[3]

Once collected, the second set of signatures are given to the county's supervisor of elections, along with 10 cents for each name to be checked.[3]

The supervisor of elections must inspect the second set of signatures within 30 days.[3]

Election

Date of recall election

If it is determined that sufficient signatures were filed to force a recall election, the recall target is given 5 days to provide a written resignation. If the recall target chooses not to resign at this point, "...the chief judge of the judicial circuit in which the municipality is located shall fix a day for holding a recall election." The date for the recall election must be "not less than 30 days or more than 60 days after the expiration of the 5-day period" given to the recall target for tendering his or her resignation.[3]

Ballot wording

The ballot for a recall election must read as follows:[3]

“ Shall (name of person) be removed from the office of (office’s name) by recall?
(name of person) should be removed from office.
(name of person) should not be removed from office.[5]
 ”

Candidates

District offices

Following a successful recall election of officials elected from districts, candidates attempting to succeed the official recalled for his or her unexpired term shall be voted upon at a special election called by the chief judge of the circuit court in which the districts are located not less than 30 days or more than 60 days after the recall election.[3]

At-large offices

During a recall election of officials elected at large, candidates attempting to succeed the official recalled for his or her unexpired term shall be voted upon at the same election. If only one member of a governing body is removed, then the candidate with the highest number of votes will fill the vacancy for the unexpired term. In other words, if one official is recalled and three candidates are vying for his or her seat, then the candidate who receives the majority of votes is elected to fill the position. If two officials are recalled, then the top two candidates will fill those seats.[3]

Resignations

If the official under question resigns before the recall election, the remaining members of the governing body shall fill the vacancy created, according to the appropriate law for filling vacancies, until the election occurs.[3]

If all members of a governing body are being recalled and all resign before the recall election, then the recall election shall be canceled and, in lieu, a special election shall occur.[3]

Legislation involving recall elections

The table below lists bills related to recall elections in Florida. The following information is included for each bill:

  • State
  • Bill number
  • Official bill name or caption
  • Most recent action date
  • Legislative status
  • Sponsor party
  • Topics dealt with by the bill

Bills are organized by most recent action. The table displays up to 100 results. To view more bills, use the arrows in the upper-right corner. Clicking on a bill will open its page on Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which includes bill details and a summary.

See also

  • What are recalls?
    What are recalls?
    Read more
  • Recall efforts
    Recall efforts
    Read more
  • education-policy-icon.png
    Ballotpedia's Recall Report
    Read more
  • Recalls by state
    Recalls by state
    Read more
  • Recalls by office
    Recalls by office
    Read more
  • Recall laws
    Recall laws
    Read more


External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Congressional Research Service, "Recall of Legislators and the Removal of Members of Congress from Office," January 5, 2012
  2. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Recall of State Officials," September 17, 2025
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named statute
  4. ↑ Florida Association of Counties, "Charter County Information," accessed August 24, 2021
  5. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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