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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session
recall elections; procedures; timeline
Purpose
Modifies prescribed statutory timeframes for recall elections, including timeframes related to petition signatures, nomination petitions and the date on which a recall election must be held. Deems invalid any nomination petition signatures that are collected before a candidate's statement of interest is filed and before the recall application is filed.
Background
Every public officer who holds an elective office, whether by election, appointment or retention, is subject to recall by the qualified electors of the public officer's electoral district, which may include qualified electors from the whole state. To petition for the public officer's recall, the recall petition must be signed by a sufficient number of qualified electors, equal to 25 percent of the number of votes cast at the last preceding general election for all candidates for the office held by that public officer. A county recorder must, within 60 days of receiving the petition signature sheets from the filing officer, determine the number of petition signatures or affidavits that must be disqualified for reasons including: 1) the signature is illegible and the signer is otherwise unidentifiable; 2) the signature is deemed invalid after comparison with the signature on the affidavit of registration or after comparison with the handwriting on the petition and signer's voter registration file; 3) a petitioner signed more than once, in which case all but one valid signature is disqualified; 4) the signer was not a qualified elector of the appropriate district on the date of signing the petition; 5) the person was not at least 18 years old on the date of signing the petition or affidavit; 6) incomplete or illegible residential address information; 7) a missing date of signature; and 8) any other prescribed reason that would cause the filing officer to remove a signature or an entire signature sheet. If the county recorder certifies that the number of valid signatures equals or exceeds the minimum number required, then the filing officer must immediately and officially file the petition and notify the Governor and each county recorder affected that no more signatures need to be verified and that the recall must be placed on the ballot (Ariz. Const. art. 8, part 1 § 1; A.R.S. §§ 19-201; 19-208.02; and 19-208.03)
If the public officer against whom the recall petition is filed does not resign within 5 days as prescribed, the order calling for a special recall election must be issued within 15 days ordering that the recall election be held on the next consolidated election date that occurs at least 90 days after the order is issued. The public officer subject to recall must be placed as a candidate on the official ballot without nomination and other candidates for the office may be nominated to be voted on and placed on the official ballot after filing a nomination petition as prescribed between 60 and 90 days before the date of the recall election (A.R.S. §§ 19-209 and 19-212).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Increases, from 60 to 75, the number of days in which a county recorder must determine the number of disqualified signatures or affidavits after receiving a recall petition signature sheet.
2. Increases, from 90 to 120, the minimum number of days between the order for a recall election and the next consolidated election date at which the recall election must occur.
3. Modifies, from between 60 and 90 days before a recall election to between 90 and 120 days before a recall election, the timeframe in which a candidate must file a nomination petition.
4. Requires a person seeking candidacy at a recall election to file a statement of interest with the appropriate filing officer.
5. Stipulates that any nomination petition signatures that are collected before the date on which a candidate's statement of interest is filed and the date before the recall application is filed are invalid and subject to challenge.
6. Makes technical and conforming changes.
7. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Research
January 27, 2025
ZD/KS/ci