Stacie McGrady, co-chair of the group pushing to recall supervisor Ignacio Velazquez, collecting signatures in downtown Hollister. Photo by Juan Pablo Pérez Burgos
Stacie McGrady, co-chair of the group pushing to recall Supervisor Ignacio Velazquez, collecting signatures in downtown Hollister last year. BenitoLink file photo.

Lea este artículo en español aquí.

There are two recall efforts against sitting supervisors under way in San Benito County, raising questions and drawing a variety of comments on the issue.

One, targeting Supervisor Ignacio Velazquez, has cleared every legal hurdle and will appear on the June 2 ballot. Of the more than 39,000 ballots voters began receiving April 30, 7,672 went to Velazquez’s district, according to the San Benito County Elections Department.

The other, aimed at Supervisor Kollin Kosmicki, re-launched in March after an earlier effort was dropped last year, but had its Notice of Intention ultimately rejected by county elections due to missing voter information, although its supporters have questioned the rejection and threatened to challenge it in court.

So, BenitoLink has taken a close look at the process for recalling an elected official in California, and by extension, San Benito County.

Any California voter has the power to initiate a recall through what is known as the Notice of Intention. That document details, in no more than 200 words, the reasons for removing the elected official and must be signed by at least 60 registered voters in San Benito County, who are known as the proponents. Only voters from the targeted official’s district can sign the notice, which must also be published in a local newspaper. Proponents must serve the official, and they then have seven days to submit it to the elections office.

The elections office has 10 days to review the notice and determine whether it meets the legal requirements to move forward. During this period, the notice is open for public examination and can be challenged by members of the public or the official. If it’s approved, the official then has seven calendar days from the filing of the notice to submit a response of no more than 200 words to the elections office. That response must appear on the recall petition. 

The next step is for the proponents to draft the recall petition, the document voters will sign if they support removing the official. Proponents have 10 days to submit a draft to the elections office, which then has 10 days to approve or reject it. The format is very strict and proponents must follow it with no deviations. 

In Velazquez’s case, the recall petition was rejected four times for small errors such as misspelled names and missing commas. After Safer San Benito, the group leading the recall, fixed the mistakes, the petition was approved. Once the elections office approves the petition, proponents can begin collecting signatures.

The number of required signatures is set by the elections office based on the California Elections Code. Proponents have between 40 and 60 days, depending on the number of registered voters in the official’s jurisdiction, to gather the required number of signatures. Since there could be missing information, proponents tend to collect more than the minimum to ensure they meet the threshold. 

In Velazquez’s recall, the group pushing to remove him submitted 2,256 signatures, exceeding the threshold of 1,833. Of the total submitted, 1,842 were deemed valid.

Once the collection window closes, the elections office must verify the signatures within 30 to 60 business days. If enough are valid, the county elections official certifies the petition and presents it to the appropriate governing body (Board of Supervisors, City Council or School District board, etc.) at its upcoming scheduled meeting. The body then has 14 days to order a recall election. 

If the governing body fails to act within 14 days, the elections office then has five days to set the recall election date. Under state law, that election must be held within 88 and 125 days for a special or consolidated election, but it can be held within 180 days if it is part of a regularly scheduled election. 

The information for this article comes from the California Elections Code and interviews with the San Benito County Elections Department.

We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. Producing local news is expensive, and community support keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service nonprofit news.