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Laws governing recall in Oregon
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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 Oregon. Oregon allows for the recall of all elected state and local 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.
Oregon and Michigan, which also created the right of recall in 1908, were the first two states to adopt statewide recall procedures.[1]
Officers 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.[2] Ballotpedia does not provide coverage of federal recalls. Click here for more information.
State officials
Article II, Section 18 of the Oregon Constitution provides that: "Every public officer in Oregon is subject, as herein provided, to recall by the electors of the state or of the electoral district from which the public officer is elected."[3]
Local officials
Local officials are subject to recall under Article II, Section 18 of the Oregon Constitution.[3]
Process
Prerequisites
Term length
For state senators or state representatives, recall petitions may be filed "any time after the 5th day of the first legislative session of their current term." For all other elected or appointed public officers, recall petitions may be filed "any time after the office holder has served 6 months of their current term."[4]
Reasons for recall
Recall organizers must first file a prospective recall petition stating, in 200 words or less, the reasons for recall.[4]
Petition
Petition form
The first step for a recall petition against a state public officer is the filing of a prospective recall petition with the Secretary of State, Elections Division. The chief petitioner for a recall must be a registered voter in the district from which the public officer is elected or appointed.[4]
After receiving a sufficient prospective petition for a recall of a state public officer and no later than 3 business days after the prospective petition is filed, the Elections Division provides the chief petitioner with official templates of the cover and signature sheets for the petition. Once the chief petitioner has received the official templates, they may begin the approval for circulation process. The cover and signature sheets must be approved in writing by the Elections Division before the chief petitioner may begin circulating the recall petition.[4]
Using the official templates provided by the Elections Division, the chief petitioner prepares and submits cover and signature sheets exactly as intended to circulate, including weight, style and color of paper with the cover sheet (SEL 350) copied on the reverse side of the signature sheet (SEL 351). Only a chief petitioner or authorized agents may submit cover and signature sheets for approval.[4]
Signature requirements
The number of valid signatures required to force a recall election is 15% of the total number of votes cast in the public officer’s electoral district for all candidates for governor at the last election at which a candidate for governor was elected to a full term.[4]
Circulation timeline
After the chief petitioner receives approval to circulate the recall petition, they begin gathering signatures. They must submit signatures for verification no later than then 90th day after the prospective petition was filed.[4]
Signature verification
Once the proper number of signatures have been gathered the chief petitioner, they must submit the signatures to the Elections Divisions. The signatures must be separated by county and numbered sequentially within the counties. After receiving the signature sheets from the chief petitioner, the Elections Division begins the process of verifying the signatures to determine if the recall petition contains enough valid signatures to qualify for an election.[4]
Election
Officer response
If a sufficient number of signatures is submitted and verified, then the public officer targeted may submit their resignation or a statement of justification. The resignation or statement of justification "must be filed no later than the 5th day after the petition qualifies to the ballot."[4]
Conduct of election
If the officer does not resign within five days, "the election must be held no later than the 35th day after the last day for the public officer to resign."[4]
Ballot form
Each recall ballot includes:
- The chief petitioner’s reasons for demanding the recall exactly as submitted by the chief petitioner on form SEL 350.
- An exact reprint of the public officer’s statement of justification from form SEL 352, if submitted.
- The question – Do you vote to recall (blank) from the office of (blank)? (with the elected official’s name printed in the first blank space and the public office held by the elected official printed in the second blank space).
- An area to record yes or no vote.[4]
Legislation involving recall elections
The table below lists bills related to recall elections in Oregon. 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?
Recall efforts
Ballotpedia's Recall Report
Recalls by state
Recalls by office
Recall laws
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Recall of State Officials," accessed October 13, 2023
- ↑ Congressional Research Service, "Recall of Legislators and the Removal of Members of Congress from Office," January 5, 2012
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 FindLaw, "Oregon Constitution Art. II § 18," accessed September 19, 2025
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 Oregon Secretary of State, "Recall Manual," accessed September 19, 2025
