Throw the Bums Out: Let’s Take It On The Road
by Peter FerraraEighteen states provide for recall elections to remove state officials. Nine of those provide for the same for their Congressional representatives. But such a right of recall can and should be adopted in every state.
Ideally this would be done by amending the state constitution to provide for such recall elections. But it can be done through statute as well, with the New Jersey Uniform Recall Election Law as a good model.
The greatest opportunity is in the states that already provide for citizen initiatives to put state constitutional amendments or proposed statutes on the state ballot for a vote of the people for adoption. In these states, the citizens can act directly, without depending on the politicians to adopt a check on their own power.
The right of recall is desirable because it maintains democratic accountability to the people throughout the entire term of elected officials, rather than just at election time. This is more relevant now because increasingly we see an attitude among elected officials that they know best and the people are ignorant yahoos who should be ignored until they need to be fooled again at election time. The people need a right of recall to remove officials who display this anti-democratic attitude after they are elected.
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