By Jon Coupal
We all know what a sore loser is — someone who lacks grace in defeat. But strangely, in California politics, we have sore winners.
Last month, Senate Constitutional Amendment 6 was introduced in the California Legislature. If passed, it would substantially weaken the right to recall elected officials.
Under current law, voters have the power to recall a state officer by majority vote and, in the same election, elect a successor with a plurality of the vote. The Constitution specifically prohibits a public official who is the subject of a recall election from being a candidate for successor.
In the event an officeholder is removed in a recall election, SCA 6 would require that the office remains vacant until a successor is elected in a special election, or if there is insufficient time to hold a special election, the office would remain vacant for the remainder of the term. The measure would allow the officeholder subject to the recall election to be a candidate in the special election.
But the rule would be different for a gubernatorial recall. If a governor is removed from office in a recall election, SCA 6 provides that the lieutenant governor will become governor for the remainder of the unexpired term. In a one-party state like California, this renders a recall for governor nearly pointless.
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