1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to elections; recall of city officials; 
  1.3             providing a process for recall of elected city 
  1.4             officials; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
  1.5             Statutes, chapter 205. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [205.85] [RECALL OF CITY OFFICIALS.] 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [RECALL ESTABLISHED.] An elected city 
  1.9   official may be recalled from office in the manner provided by 
  1.10  this section.  A recall election must be held if signatures are 
  1.11  obtained from eligible voters who reside in the city where the 
  1.12  elected official serves.  For purposes of this section, 
  1.13  residence must be determined under section 200.031.  Signatures 
  1.14  must be obtained in a number equal to at least one-third the 
  1.15  number of votes cast at the immediately preceding general 
  1.16  election for the office whose incumbent is sought to be recalled.
  1.17     A recall petition may be filed against an official only 
  1.18  once in any calendar year and may not be filed against an 
  1.19  official after the filing period opens for the regular election 
  1.20  for the office held by the official. 
  1.21     Subd. 2.  [PETITION.] An eligible voter who resides in a 
  1.22  city may file a petition for recall of an elected official in 
  1.23  the city.  The voter shall commence the process by obtaining 
  1.24  petition forms from the city clerk.  The forms must be designed 
  1.25  by the secretary of state and made available to a city clerk 
  2.1   upon request under this section.  Each sheet of the form must be 
  2.2   headed with the name of the official being recalled and the city 
  2.3   and the office from which the official is being recalled.  Each 
  2.4   sheet must indicate the date the petition must be completed and 
  2.5   the total number of signatures required in order to set a recall 
  2.6   election, and must contain space for each voter to print the 
  2.7   voter's name and residence address and to sign the voter's name. 
  2.8      An adequate number of signatures must be submitted to the 
  2.9   city clerk not later than 45 days after the petition forms are 
  2.10  obtained from the city clerk.  Not later than 14 days after the 
  2.11  completed petition forms are returned to the city clerk, the 
  2.12  city clerk shall verify whether enough valid signatures have 
  2.13  been submitted to require a recall election.  To count as a 
  2.14  valid signature for purposes of this section, a voter must 
  2.15  provide a signature and indicate that the voter resides at an 
  2.16  address in the city where the official who is the subject of the 
  2.17  recall petition serves. 
  2.18     Subd. 3.  [RECALL ELECTION.] If the city clerk determines 
  2.19  that enough valid signatures have been submitted to require a 
  2.20  recall election, the election must be held 60 days from the date 
  2.21  the determination is made.  Notice and conduct of the election 
  2.22  and preparation of the ballot must be as provided for other 
  2.23  special municipal elections on a question.  The question on the 
  2.24  ballot must be: 
  2.25     "Shall (name of officeholder) be recalled from the office 
  2.26  of (name of office)?" 
  2.27     If a majority of the voters vote to recall the official, 
  2.28  there is a vacancy in the office immediately upon completion of 
  2.29  the canvass of the results of the recall election.  The vacancy 
  2.30  must be filled in the manner provided by law for filling a 
  2.31  vacancy for the office, but the official who was removed from 
  2.32  office at the recall election may not be appointed to fill the 
  2.33  vacancy.  The official may seek election to the office at any 
  2.34  subsequent election for the office.