Ballotpedia has tracked 1,011 officials included in recall efforts in California since 2010, which is more than any other state. Those officials account for 19.2% of all recalls Ballotpedia has tracked as of September 30, 2024. Michigan had the second-most with 986 (18.7%), and Colorado was third-highest with 355 (6.7%).
Both California and Michigan had an above-average number of officials included in recall efforts as of the halfway point of this year. Colorado, however, saw a drop.
The map below shows the total number of officials targeted for recall in each state from 2010 to September 30, 2024. Ballotpedia did not track any recall efforts in the states shown in gray.
A political recall is the process by which citizens can remove elected officials from office before their term is completed. This process typically includes the circulation of petitions by recall organizers, the evaluation of signatures for validity, and a public vote if the petitions are deemed to have a sufficient number of valid signatures. However, the details of the recall process vary from state to state. Click here to learn about the laws governing recalls in each state.
When looking at recalls by office type, city council members have had the most recall petitions filed against them so far this year. This was also true for every year from 2010 to 2023, except for 2021 when school board members had the most. School board members had the second-most recall petitions filed against them every year except 2021, when they had the most, and 2017, when they had the third-most after city council members and mayors.
The chart below shows the number of officials included in recall efforts by office type from 2010 through September 30, 2024.
From 2010 to 2023, Ballotpedia covered an average of 217 recall efforts against an average of 354 officials per year. Those recalls saw a 16.6% success rate. The success rate was calculated by dividing the number of recalled officials by the number of officials who were targeted for recall. The highest success rate happened in 2011 when 83 of the 308 officials targeted for recall were removed from office, a success rate of 26.9%. The lowest success rate happened in 2021 when 25 of the 545 officials targeted for recall were removed from office, a success rate of 4.6%.
As of September 30, 2024, Ballotpedia had tracked 203 recall efforts against 320 officials. As of that time, 57 of the officials targeted for recall had been removed from office in a recall election, a success rate of 17.8%. Twenty-seven officials defeated a recall election to stay in office.
Additional reading: