Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Mayor and city council recall, Lawton, Oklahoma (2020-2021)
| Lawton Mayor and City Council recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Jay Burk |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2021 Recalls in Oklahoma Oklahoma recall laws Mayoral recalls City council recalls Recall reports |
An effort in Lawton, Oklahoma, to recall Mayor Stan Booker and Councilman Jay Burk did not qualify for the ballot.[1] Signature collection began in September 2020.[2]
To read about other recall efforts related to the coronavirus and government responses to the pandemic, click here.
Recall supporters
The recall effort was organized by a group named the Freedom Defense Alliance in response to mask mandates and business shutdowns resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.[3]
The statement for recall against Mayor Booker states that the mayor "does not represent the views of the people of the City of Lawton on important issues including, but not limited to, public safety, his passage of Ordinance No. 20-12 on July 17, 2020 requiring mask/face coverings be worn by the public at large, signage posted by businesses, and penalties for violations, subverting the will of the people in favor of his own arbitrary opinion, dismissive of his constituents' views, dividing our community by threatening use of force and advocating fines against law abiding, healthy citizens, misappropriation of city status to leverage city law enforcement utilities in and for personal gain, and abusing public trust."[3]
Recall opponents
In response to the recall effort, Booker said, "I don’t know the specifics of the recall, but I will say this. I start every day with a prayer for God to give me his guidance and to give me his wisdom. To give me ears to hear above the noise and eyes to see his way. Then I say what are you going to show me today. I will face this challenge the way I face every other challenge and that is head-on, today, tomorrow and the next day"[2]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Oklahoma
Recall organizers are required to submit 100 signatures with a statement of reasons for recalling each official. A second round of signatures is then required to put the recall elections on the ballot. Petitioners would need to submit valid signatures equal to 20 percent of the votes cast in each official's district in the last election for governor.[2]
Ballotpedia covered 35 coronavirus-related recall efforts against 94 officials in 2022, accounting for 13% of recalls that year. This is a decrease from both 2020 and 2021. COVID-related recalls accounted for 37% of all recall efforts in both 2020 and 2021. In 2020, there were 87 COVID-related recalls against 89 officials, and in 2021, there were 131 against 214 officials.
The chart below compares coronavirus-related recalls to recalls for all other reasons in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
See also
- Recall campaigns in Oklahoma
- Political recall efforts, 2021
- Political recall efforts, 2020
- Mayoral recalls
- City council recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Ballotpedia Staff, "Email communication with Comanche County Election Board," July 27, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 ABC 7 News, "Lawton group attempting to recall Mayor Stan Booker, Councilman Jay Burk," September 14, 2020
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 K Law 101, "Mayor Stan Booker and Councilman Jay Burk Facing Recall?" September 15, 2020
