If you're trying to recall an elected official, you have a deadline for submitting your recall petition. The time frame depends on the number of registered voters in the area. For fewer than 1,000 voters, you have 40 days. If there are between 1,000 and 5,000 voters, you get 60 days, and if there are 5,000 to 10,000 voters, it’s 90 days. From 10,000 to 50,000 voters, the deadline is 120 days, and for 50,000 or more, it's 160 days. The number of voters is based on the last registration report before any changes are required to the petition form.

This law outlines how many signatures are needed to recall an official in California, depending on their jurisdiction.

For city, county, and district officials, the required signatures range from 10% to 30% of registered voters, based on voter registration numbers. Smaller areas need higher percentages. For state officers, the number of signatures is defined by the California Constitution. For judges, it depends on votes from the most recent election with the fewest countywide votes. Additionally, for landowner voting districts, 10% of the land's assessed value is required.

This law explains how a petition for a recall or initiative must be filed in California. The petition can be filed by the people who support it, or someone they give written permission to. Every section of the petition must be submitted all at once.

When the petition is handed in, the elections official checks if the number of signatures meets the minimum requirement. If it does, the official accepts the petition on that day, and it's considered filed. If any part of the petition isn't filed at the same time, it's invalid. If the signatures don't meet the minimum required, no further steps will be taken.

In California, if a recall petition has signatures from multiple counties, each county's election official must include a certificate with the number of registered voters from their county who live in the area of the official being recalled.

This law explains what happens after a petition is filed with the elections official. The official has 30 days (excluding weekends and holidays) to examine the petition and confirm if there are enough valid signatures from registered voters. If there are enough signatures, the petition is marked as sufficient; if not, it's marked as insufficient.

The official can use copies of voter signatures to verify them, as long as this complies with the law. After checking, the official attaches a certificate to the petition with the findings and informs the petition's authors if it's sufficient or not. If it's sufficient, the official forwards the results to the governing board's next regular meeting.

This law describes how election officials should handle signature verification for petitions. If more than 500 signatures are submitted, officials can use a random sample to verify them, ensuring all signatures have an equal chance to be included. The sample must check at least 500 or 5% of signatures, whichever is more. If valid signatures exceed 110% of required numbers, the petition is certified as sufficient.

If valid signatures are between 90% and 110% of what's needed, each signature is verified. A petition is certified as sufficient or insufficient based on total valid signatures. Petitions with fewer than 90% valid signatures are deemed insufficient. Officials can use accurate voter signature facsimiles for this verification process.

Elections officials must communicate the results to petitioner proponents, and a certificate of sufficiency or insufficiency is attached to the petition. Insufficient petitions cannot proceed but can be resubmitted as new petitions. If sufficient, certification is reported to the governing body at its next regular meeting.

If a petition certificate is found to be lacking the necessary requirements, then no further action will be taken on it. However, the petition will still be kept on record.

This law explains what happens when an elections official finds that a petition has enough signatures to move forward with a recall election. The official must prepare a certificate with key details and present it to the governing body at their next meeting. This certificate includes the name and title of the officer being recalled, the number of signatures needed, the total number of signatures collected, the count of valid signatures, and how many were disqualified.