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Laws governing recall in California
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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 California. California allows for the recall of state and local officials, including judges of courts of appeal and trial courts.
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 and local officials
The citizens of California are granted the authority to perform a recall election by Article 2, Sections 13-19 of the California Constitution.
Process
Prerequisites
In California, the recall process starts with a notice of intention to recall. The notice must be served to the officer whose recall is being sought as well as published in a newspaper of general circulation. The notice must then be filed with the relevant election office. Once the notice has been deemed sufficient by the election office, a petition must also be filed and approved by the election office. Once the petition is approved, it can be circulated. The number of signatures required and the amount of time allowed for circulation depends on the office level and the size of the jurisdiction. If the recall petition is filed by the deadline, the election office will verify the signatures. If enough signatures are verified, a recall election will be scheduled.[2]
Notice of intention
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(a) The notice of intention shall contain all of the following:
(b) (1) For a state office, and for a local office where the number of registered voters in the electoral jurisdiction is at least 100,000, the minimum number of proponents listed on the notice of intention is 50, or equal to five times the number of signatures required to have been filed on the nomination paper of the officer sought to be recalled, whichever is higher.
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Petition
Signature requirements
- Main article: California signature requirements
For recall of state officials, proponents must file a notice-of-intent-to-recall petition signed by 50 registered voters or by a number of registered voters "equal to five times the number of signatures required to have been filed on the nomination paper of the officer sought to be recalled, whichever is higher."[5][6]
For the actual petition, signatures must equal a percentage of the total number of votes most recently cast for the targeted office—12% for executive officials and 20% for state legislators and judges. In addition, the petition must include signatures from each of at least five counties equal in number to 1% of the last vote for the office in that county.
See law: Article 2, Sections 13-19 of the California Constitution
The number of valid signatures required to put a local recall question on the ballot varies by the number of registered voters in the jurisdiction. For the officials of a city, county, school district, county board of education, or any resident voting district, signatures from the following percentage of registered voters are required:[7]
- 30% in jurisdictions with 0 - 1,000 registered voters
- 25% in jurisdictions with 1,000 - 10,000 registered voters
- 20% in jurisdictions with 10,000 - 50,000 registered voters
- 15% in jurisdictions with 50,000 - 100,000 registered voters
- 10% in jurisdictions with 100,000 or more registered voters
Charter cities can have different signature thresholds. Los Angeles, for example, requires a 15% signature threshold for recall elections.[8]
Judges also have a specific threshold. Section 14 of Article II of the California Constitution requires that signatures on recall petitions against judges be equal to 20% of the votes cast for the judge in the last election, rather than a percentage of registered voters. In the case of a county superior court judge position that did not appear on the ballot at the last relevant election, signatures equaling 20% of votes cast for whichever countywide office received the least total number of votes in the most recent general election in the judge's county must be collected to qualify a recall of the judge for the ballot.
See laws: California elections code Section 2187, California elections code Section 11221 & Section 14 of Article II of the California Constitution
Each person who signs the petition must be a registered voter in the jurisdiction of the official against whom the recall attempt is being pursued. If the signer is not such a registered voter, his or her signature will not be counted.
See law: California Code Division 11, Chapter 1
Petition form
The Secretary of State must provide a petition format to proponents on request from the county elections department. Proponents must use the provided format to collect signatures.
Each signer must personally write in the following:
- His or her signatures
- His or her printed name
- His or her residence address
- Name of city or unincorporated community of residence
See laws: California Code Division 11, Chapter 1, Article 3, Section 11043 & California Code Division 11, Chapter 1, Article 3, Section 11043.5
Circulator requirements
A recall petition circulator must be a registered voter in the jurisdiction of the official against whom a recall is sought. Each petition form must contain a declaration signed by the circulator that he or she is such a registered voter.
See law: California Code Division 11, Chapter 1, Article 3, Section 11046
Signature verification
Proponents must file all parts of a recall petition at the same time. If the petitions submitted to any given elections office contain fewer than 500 signatures, the elections officials must check each signature manually. If the petitions submitted contain more than 500 signatures, the elections officials may use a random sampling method.[9]
If the petition signatures are found to be sufficient, the elections official must present his findings to the relevant governing body at its next regular meeting.
See laws: California elections code Section 11224 & California elections code Section 11222
Each petition form for a state recall petition drive must be filed with the elections official of the county in which it was circulated. Each county elections office must verify the signatures that are submitted to it. County officials must report to the Secretary of State on the status of the signatures submitted every 30 days. After the filing deadline for the petition passes, election officials will have 60 days to verify the signatures unless the California Secretary of State determines a 60-day verification window "could cause the recall election to be ineligible for consolidation with the next regularly scheduled election." In that case, election officials will have 30 days to verify signatures.[10]
See law: California Code Division 11, Chapter 2
Once local recall petitions are submitted to the proper elections official, the relevant elections department must determine if enough raw signatures were submitted. If there are enough raw signatures, the petition will be deemed filed. If there are fewer than 500 signatures to verify, the elections department has 30 days to determine if there are enough valid signatures.
If there are more than 500 signatures to verify, the elections department has 60 days to determine if there are enough valid signatures, and the elections department can use random sampling techniques. However, if the elections department determines that a 60-day window "could cause the recall election to be ineligible for consolidation with the next regularly scheduled election," the process must be finished in 30 days instead of 60.[10]
See law: California Code Division 11, Chapter 3
Election
The relevant governing body must call for an election within 14 days after the meeting at which the certificate of sufficiency for the recall petition was presented.
Once the recall has been certified for the ballot, the recall election must be scheduled to occur in 88 to 125 days unless there is a regularly scheduled election within 180 days. If there is a regularly scheduled election in that time frame, the recall election can be scheduled to consolidate with it.[5]
Replacement candidates
For state-level offices, California uses a replacement question on the recall ballot to determine who will take office if a majority of voters cast ballots in favor of the recall. The official against whom the recall is sought cannot submit himself or herself as a possible replacement candidate.
Candidates filing for the replacement question must submit the standard nomination papers and a declaration of candidacy at least 59 days before the date of the recall election.
See law: California elections code Section 11381
Ballot language
On the election ballot the following question must be asked voters:
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Shall [name of officer sought to be recalled] be recalled (removed) from the office of [title of office]?[4] |
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For state-level offices, the ballot will also include a list of possible replacement candidates under the recall question. The list of candidates must include an empty space for voters to write in a candidate of their own.
See laws: California elections code Section 11242 & California elections code Section 11322
Election results
If a majority of electors vote yes on the recall question, the official in question will be removed from office. If a majority of electors vote no, the official will remain in office.
In the event of a successful state-level recall, the replacement candidate who received the most votes will serve the remainder of the recalled official's term. If no replacement candidate is nominated or qualifies for the position, the office will be vacant and filled according to the relevant laws governing vacancies.
In the event of a successful local-level recall, the office will become vacant and will be filled according to the laws that govern the vacancy of the office.[11] Local offices include offices in "a city, county, school district, community college district, or special district, or a judge of a trial court."[2]
See laws: California Code Division 11, Chapter 4, Article 4, Sections 11384 - 11386
Legislation involving recall elections
The table below lists bills related to recall elections in California. 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
- ↑ Congressional Research Service, "Recall of Legislators and the Removal of Members of Congress from Office," January 5, 2012
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 California Secretary of State, "Procedures for Recalling State and Local Officials Revised 2020," accessed October 3, 2022
- ↑ 2024 California Code, "§ 11020," accessed September 18, 2025
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 California State Legislature, "AB-2584 Recall elections." accessed October 3, 2022
- ↑ Office of the Secretary of State, "Procedures for Recalling State and Local Officials," accessed September 18, 2025
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Recall Procedures Guide 2023," accessed October 16, 2023
- ↑ City of Los Angeles, "Initiative, Referendum & Recall Petition Handbook," accessed September 18, 2025
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named2024recallguide - ↑ 10.0 10.1 California Legislature, "SB-386 Elections.(2023-2024): Today's Law As Amended," accessed October 18, 2023
- ↑ California State Legislature, "AB-2582 Recall elections: local offices." accessed October 3, 2022
