Laws governing recall in New York
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| Recall laws |
Recall of elected officials is not permitted in New York.
While recall elections do not occur, the New York Constitution states, "Any town, village, improvement district or fire district officer, except a justice of the peace, may be removed from office by the supreme court for any misconduct, maladministration, malfeasance or malversation in office." Any citizen within the officeholder's district may submit an application for removal to the local branch of the appellate division of the supreme court.[1]
Proposed legislation
2016
New York Assm. Luis Sepulveda (D) and Sen. Tony Avella (D) introduced a bill to allow for the recall of judicial officeholders and elected members of state and local government. The New York Constitution would have required updating in order for recall elections to take place. Under the proposed bill, 10% of voters would need to sign a recall petition to recall statewide officials; to recall local officials, 15% of local voters would need to sign a recall petition in order for a recall election to be called.[2][3]
2013
The Assembly Republican Caucus of the New York State Assembly voiced support for legislation to create a mechanism for recall elections. The legislation would have allowed recall elections if 20 percent of voters who participated in the election of that official signed a petition to remove him or her from office.
Assm. James Tedisco (R) cited a number of arrested New York state officials, including former State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada (D), as rationale for allowing recall in the state.[4]
2011
| Can you recall a federal official? | |
| The U.S. Constitution does not provide for recall of any federally elected official. Although some state constitutions have stated that their citizens have the right to recall members of the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on whether this is constitutional at the federal level. Read Ballotpedia's explanation » | |
State senator John DeFrancisco (R) introduced SB 5516 on May 27, 2011. SB 5516 would allow the recall of elected officials at every level of government in the state.[5] According to Syracuse Post-Standard, DeFrancisco's bill was introduced because of conflict in the Jordan-Elbridge Central School District.
Other bills to allow the recall of elected officials were also introduced during the 2011 session of the New York State Legislature:
- Sen. Brian Kolb (R) introduced SB 6526, saying, "It’s a vehicle to restore confidence."[5]
- Assm. James Tedisco (R) introduced AB 1493 in the New York State Assembly on January 20, 2011, while Sen. Joseph Griffo (R) introduced a companion measure, SB 2453 in the New York State Senate on January 21, 2011.
- Sen. Tony Avella (D) introduced SB 5190 on May 3, 2011.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ The New York State Senate, "Article 3: Creation And Filling Of Vacancies - Section 36," accessed April 12, 2019
- ↑ New York Daily News, "Bipartisan group of New York politicians push to give voters recall power," January 11, 2019
- ↑ Press Connects, "Recall elections in NY? Some want to make it happen," January 11, 2016
- ↑ The Legislative Gazette, "Assembly GOP: Time is right to reconsider recall elections," April 29, 2013
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Syracuse Post-Standard, "Prompted by turmoil in the Jordan-Elbridge school district, state senator introduces bill to allow recalls of elected officials," June 3, 2011
