Wisconsin: Judges withdraws endorsement over Walker recall petition signing

Ozaukee Circuit Judge Joseph Voiland, who campaigned against his opponent for signing the Scott Walker recall petition, has withdrawn an endorsement for Laura Gramling Perez, a Milwaukee County court commissioner, who is running for a judgeship. Perez also signed the petition. Perez and Voiland are former partners at the same law firm.

New Mexico: Judge allows Bernalillo County Treasurer recall to proceed

A Judge ruled that the questions surrounding Bernalillo County Treasurer Manny Ortiz, namely over his investment practices, are enough to warrant a recall to proceed. Petitioners would need 82,000 signatures to get the recall on the ballot.

New Jersey: Fundraiser for Vineland mayoral recall effort

Here

Tennessee: A look at the Chattanooga recall

From Nooga.com

Colorado: Supreme Court reverses Center recall ruling; reinstates recall decision

Seems to be a significant ruling on secret ballots in Colorado. Colorado's Supreme Court unanimously overturned a lower court ruling that tossed out a recall result in Center that resulted in the ouster of the mayor and two council members over a water rate hike (one additional council member survived the recall vote).

Right after the vote took place, a district court struck down the results and held that the recall was invalid due to the use of numbered stubs on the absentee ballot that were improperly removed (actually, not removed) -- thereby (in the eyes of the lower court) compromising the integrity of the recall. The ballot counters would have theoretically been able to compare the numbers and see how a specific voter voted. 

The Supreme Court's ruling provides a nice look back on the history of voting buying (which is what the prohibition on marked ballots set out to address). However, the Supreme Court rules that the official doing the counting has to mark the ballot, and it is specifically not referring to the stubs. 

Wisconsin: Secret investigation on the recall allowed to proceed

Check out this detailed report from Jason Stein at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel -- A Wisconsin Court of Appeals unanimously rejected a motion to stop a secret investigation into 501(c)(4) spending in the recall and also revealed that the Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen (a Republican) took five months to decline a request by the Milwaukee County District Attorney (a Democrat) to lead the investigation.

This is part of a win some/lose some -- This ruling comes after a previous decision that stopped subpoenas against conservative groups from their actions in the recall.

Utah: Op-ed in favor of recall law

Here

California: Escondido councilwoman facing recall petitions over settlement of voting rights lawsuit

Escondido Councilwoman Olga Diaz is facing a recall effort over redistricting. Diaz is the only liberal on the council, and the settlement of a voting rights lawsuit pushed her into the district (Republicans outnumber Democrats 4-3 in that district), saying they’re frustrated Diaz is representing their neighborhoods under the city’s new election districts. The town previously used an at-large system -- and Diaz is apparently the only supporter of the new district-based system.

Massachusetts: Lancaster recall law pushes forward

The push to adopt a recall law in Lancaster took a step forward, as petitioners got enough signatures to force a town meeting to vote for a recall. At that point, they will ask the legislature to approve a recall. There is one selectman being targeted.

California: A look at the leader of the Salinas Councilman recall

This is the recall against both Salinas Councilman (and former school board member) Jose Castaneda and Union School District trustee Meredith Ibarra, a board member who sided with Castañeda when he sat on the school board.

Montana: Judge halts Bridger Canyon Rural Fire District Recall

The recall against Bridger Canyon Rural Fire District Trustees Colleen Carnine, Mike Conn, Margaret Foster, Dennis Guentzel and Dave McKee has been stopped by a District Court Judge, who ruled the language did not meet the official misconduct standard. Petitioners handed in 108 valid signatures. No word if there will be an appeal.

Op-ed -- In Jersey anything's legal as long as you don't get caught

Here's my op-ed in the Week on the hurdles facing a recall of Governor Chris Christie. The article runs through most of the challenges, including the massive amount of signatures needed (significantly more than were needed against California Governor Gray Davis). New Jersey's law has a very high signature threshold (25% of registered voters), which has resulted in very few recalls in the state.

One point that I briefly touch on is that I suspect that New Jersey may a stricter standard on signatures than other states (Wisconsin's law is arguably the easiest -- it allows all eligible voters to sign, signers don't have to be registered). In the past, I've noticed that certain states (Arizona, Colorado) seem to throw out signatures with a higher frequency than others. If you scroll down one article, you will see a high profile petition in West New York  (it is a town in NJ) that had 40%+ signatures tossed out. That is a very bad sign for a Christie attempt -- if that is any indication, petitioners would be looking at needing over 2 million signatures just to get on the ballot.

New Jersey: Uncertainty following decision tossing out West New York signatures

Petitioners are "weighing their options" in the recall attempt against West New York Mayor Felix Roque and members of the Board of Commissioners. The town clerk tossed out ore than 40% of the petitions -- petitioners handed in 6,400 signatures. The decision was upheld by a Superior Court Judge.

Tennessee: First openly gay councilman in the state facing recall threats over domestic partner benefit law

Chattanooga City Councilman Chris Anderson is facing recall threats over the council's support for a domestic partner benefit law, though there is discussion in the article that Anderson is specifically being targeted due to his position as the first openly gay councilman in Tennessee. Petitioners claim they need 1,800 signatures in 75 days.

Note that a domestic partner benefit law sparked a very controversial recall attempt in El Paso, Texas that was thrown out by an appellate court.

Here's a little bit on Chattanooga recall law, which we discussed heavily in 2012.

If the election commission approves the wording on the petition, this would become the first attempt to recall an elected Chattanooga official since the City Charter was changed in November 2012. 

Residents voted then to make recall rules match state standards, which require signatures from 15 percent of the city's registered voters. The change came after a failed two-year battle to recall former Mayor Ron Littlefield.

Michigan: Holt Board of Education plans lead to recall threats

A plan by the Holt Board of Education to switch buildings between seniors and freshmen, has led to recall threats.

Wisconsin: Senator who faced recall threats in the past retiring

Senator Dale Schultz, a moderate Republican who faced recall threats over his votes on mining, is not running for recall election.

Michigan: New Buffalo recalls set for May 6

The recalls against two New Buffalo Mayor Migs Murray and Mayor Pro Tem Ray Lawson is set for May 6. Petitioners got 188 signatures for Murray and 190 for Lawson. They needed 144.

California: Dinuba Mayor recall gets on the ballot; two city council recalls fail

Dinuba mayor Janet Hinesly, who represents Ward 2 on the city council, will be facing a recall on June 3rd. Petitioners needed 289 signatures, they submitted 328 and got 296 verified.
Petitioners also handed in signatures for the recall of Councilman Aldo Gonzalez -- needing 374. They handed in 412, but 48 were found invalid. Petitioners didn't hand in for the Councilman Mike Smith recall.

New Mexico: 82,436 signatures needed in Bernalillo County Treasurer recall

Petitioners would need 82,436 (1/3rd of turnout) signatures to get the recall of Bernalillo County Treasurer Manny Ortiz on the ballot over his investment strategies. Apparently, they don't have a set time frame.

Wisconsin: Senate looking at recall restriction bill

Here