Laws governing recall in Florida
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The Florida laws governing recall pertain to certain elected local officials, as determined by Florida Statute Annotated §100.361. Not all elected local officials are eligible for recall in Florida. Those eligible must have been elected to a governing body of a municipality or chartered county.[1] Twenty of Florida's 67 counties are charter counties.[2]
Florida recall law does not pertain to elected state officials, such as the governor, nor elected federal officials, such as the state's congressional delegates.
Application
| Can you recall a federal official? | |
| The U.S. Constitution does not provide for recall of any elected federal 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 » | |
Who
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."[1]
Where
Municipalities
Florida’s recall law states that “any [elected] member of the governing body of a municipality” can be recalled, regardless of whether the municipality in question has a recall provision.[1]
Charter counties
The law is also applicable to Florida's charter counties, regardless of whether the county has specifically included a charter provision in its county charter governing recall. Florida has 67 counties, and as of 2021, 20 of these counties were charter counties. Florida's charter counties are:[2]
- Alachua County
- Brevard County
- Broward County
- Charlotte County
- Clay County
- Columbia County
- Duval County
- Hillsborough County
- Lee County
- Leon County
- Miami-Dade County
- Orange County
- Osceola County
- Palm Beach County
- Pinellas County
- Polk County
- Sarasota County
- Seminole County
- Volusia County
- Wakulla County.
Procedures
Prerequisites
Term length
A recall cannot begin until the targeted official has served at least one-fourth of his or her term in office.[1]
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."[1]
Florida is one of 12 states that requires specific reasons for a recall.
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.[1]
- 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."[1]
- The clerk who received the signatures must then "immediately" 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.[1]
- 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."[1]
The signature requirement varies based on the number of registered voters in the jurisdiction.[1]
| 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."[1]
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.[1]
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.[1]
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.[1]
The supervisor of elections must inspect the second set of signatures within 30 days.[1]
Recall elections
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.[1]
Ballots
The ballot for a recall election must read as follows:[1]
| “ | Shall (name of person) be removed from the office of (office’s name) by recall?
|
” |
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.[1]
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.[1]
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 appropriate law for filling vacancies, until the election occurs.[1]
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.[1]
See also
- Laws governing recall
- Recall campaigns in Florida
- States that have pre-petition signature requirements for recalls
- States that require grounds for recalls
External links
- Text of Florida Statute Annotated §100.361
- December 19, 1989 opinion of the Florida Division of Elections regarding the correct interpretation of Florida Statute Annotated §100.361
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 The 2020 Florida Statutes, "Fla. Stat. Ann §100.361," accessed August 24, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Florida Association of Counties, "Charter County Information," accessed August 24, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
