Massachusetts: Two Bridgewater councillors yet to get challengers

After all the fighting to get the recall of Councillors Mike Demos and Peter Riordan on the ballot, so far there is no candidates running against them. According to news reports, both of the presumptive challengers are waiting till after their vacations to decide whether to run. They have until September 19 to get petitions with 100 signatures in.

Idaho: Blackfoot School Trustee survives recall

Blackfoot School District Trustee Peter Lipovac survived a recall vote 180-101 on Tuesday.

The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes' Fort Hall precinct was responsible for 135 votes. The issue was his failure to get pre-approval for attending a conference and his advocacy of a charter school.

Arizona: Pearce loses new run for office

Former Arizona Senate Majority Leader Russell Pearce, who was recalled and removed last November, lost his comeback bid in a primary on Tuesday. Pearce ran in a different district. The totals were very similar -- in the recall, he lost 12,812-10,121. In the primary it was 12,789-10,086.

Canada: Should Toronto have the recall

A look at discussion of adopting a recall in Toronto.

Kansas: Three Baxter Springs City Council face recall votes on November 6

Three Baxter Springs City Council members are facing a recall election on November 6. Gary Allen, Ron Costlow and Ed McAfee were all targeted by supporters of Mayor Jenifer Bingham. Petitions are still outstanding for Councilman Robert St. Clair was still circulating.

Non-recall op-ed: The Dangers of Political Conventions

Here's an article I wrote for Forbes on the lack of "worst case" planning by either party.

Idaho: Blackfoot School trustee facing recall vote today

Blackfoot School Zone 1 trustee Peter Lipovac is facing a recall today.

North Carolina: Hildebran Mayor facing calls for recall, though town doesn't have the option

Hildebran Mayor Karen Robinson is facing calls for a recall, though the town doesn't have that option.

Massachusetts: Three Randolph School Board Members facing petitions

Three Randolph School Board members, Sharon Swain, Marybeth Nearen and Larry Azer, are facing petitions from a former member.

David Harris, the former school board member, claims his targets are “obstructing and sabotaging the programs set in place within the Randolph School system by Superintendent Oscar Santos that are designed to improve the level of educational performance of the entire system.

Petitioner first need 500 signatures per petition, than needs to get 20 percent of registereds in 21 days.

Arkansas: Redfield mayor facing recall in November

Redfield mayor Tony Lawhon will face a recall on election day, with 113 signatures being turned in (25% of registereds). Apparently, no reason was given for the recall.

Non-Recall Op-ed -- The Tea Party’s New Model: Experienced Candidates Magnifying Movement’s Influence

I wrote this one for Time Magazine.

Kansas: Basehor City Administrator, whose firing sparked three recalls, receives $200K settlement, apology

In the denouncement to the Basehor recall, the former city adminstrator Mark Loughry received a $200,000 settlement and an apology for his firing for unfounded allegations of financial impropriety. 

The firing helped lead to the recall of the mayor and two city council members. The mayor supported Loughry and the two council members voted to fire him.

Apparently, the accusations were that he added extra health benefits to his contract and that he wasn't truthful about his salary at his past job.

Massachusetts: Bridgewater recall set for November 6

Though apparently (and surprisingly) it won't save any money, the Bridgewater recall is set for election day. Unsurprisingly  no thought was given to the recall when crafting election law.

there would need to be two separate ballots and two separate check-ins and check-outs. There wouldn’t be enough room for all the extra poll workers, so he’d have to relocate voting for districts 3 and 7 to a different part of the Bridgewater Middle School and the cost would actually be higher than holding two elections because of additional ballot machine programming, he said.

Adams said a town bylaw requires the polls to be open from noon to 8 p.m. for special elections such as the recall, while state law requires the polls to be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. for elections such as the presidential election.

Washington: Pacific Mayor facing recall threats

Pacific's Mayor Cy Sun, who won election as a write-in, is facing recall threats, with petitioners handing in a 30 page document alleging the "misfeasance, malfeasance, and violation of oath of office," required to get a recall on the ballot in Washington State. 

Sun has fired department heads, and even ended up in handcuffs after he was accused of trying to break into a locked city office. 

Pacific police officers arrested Sun in July for allegedly trying to get into a city employee's locked office. He's now under investigation by the King County Sheriff's Department.

If approved, petitioners would have 180 days to collect 400 signatures.

Wisconsin: Two Brazeau supervisors lose recall votes

Two Brazeau supervisors lost their seats in a recall election. Darrell Enix lost 389-171 to Gerald Kempka and James Hanna lost to Rodney Gretzon 307-176 (75 votes went to a third party candidate). Candidates needed to more than 50% to win the seat. Both of the new officials held twon office before. Gretzon was a rerun -- he lost his seat in April 2011 to Gretzon.

After resisting scheduling the recall election at several meetings in May and June before facing legal action, the Town Board set the Aug. 14 election date.

Idaho: Blackfoot school district trustee facing recall next week

Blackfoot School District Zone 1 trustee Peter Lipovac is facing a recall election on Aug. 28, due to his travel to New Mexico for a conference and his seeking disbursement without pre-approval.

Note the other issue at play -- charter schools: 

"Second, Mr. Lipovac has demonstrated at numerous school board meetings that he is not only advocating but is actively involved in the development of Chief Tahgee Elementary Academy, a Charter School in Fort Hall, Idaho," Kniffin writes. 

"By not excusing himself from the votes concerning Chief Tahgee Elementary Academy, he has demonstrated he cannot fairly represent the District in his actions as a board member."

California: Four San Bernardino council members facing petitions

Four San Bernardino councilmembers are facing recall threats for not putting a charter repeal on the ballot. Councilman Chas Kelley was the original target, but the effort has not been broadened to include Robert Jenkins, John Valdivia and Wendy McCammack. The report says the city held recalls in 1962, 1970 and 1976.

Florida: Appellate Court hears arguments in Haines City recall

An appellate panel is heard oral arguments in the two Haines City commissioners recalls. A lower court judge blocked the recall from taking place, claiming it did not meet the malfeasance standards.

The recall was started after the commission approved a $312K severance package for the city manager, who then filed for unemployment insurance. The court may be looking at whether the manager was actually a city employee at the time the compensation package was approved.

New Jersey: Greetings from Asbury Park! -- Your petitions are hereby rejected

Petitions to recall Mayor Ed Johnson and two council members, John Loffredo and Susan Henderson was rejected by the county clerk. The clerk claimed that it was too late to meet the deadline (September 13) to get on the ballot for November.

Interesting logic here, one that may could easily be tossed out by a judge. Petitioners handed in 2,644 signatures for each. Petitioners needed 1,865 valids (25% of registereds).

The clerk rejected the petitions because he has 10 business days to determine validity, and 10 more business days to allow for objections. If there are no objections, he needs to wait five days for resignations to get it on the ballot. So, based on this timeframe, he would only have to days to get due the verification.

According to the article, the group also collected signatures against two other council members, James Bruno and Kevin Sanders, but failed to get enough to qualify.

 Unsurprisingly, given the argument, petitioners will contest this in court: I'm not sure if the city does not allow special election recalls, but I don't know why that wouldn't just be the result.

North Carolina: Statesville City Councilman facing recall threats for illegal voting activity

Statesville City Councilman Flake Huggins is facing recall threats following a grand jury indictment for illegal voting.