The Citizen Center’s Marilyn Marks has pointed out that the Colorado Recall requires that voters must cast a ballot on the yes-or-no recall question if they want to vote for a successor candidate. Just to be clear: Colorado, like California, has what I call a two-step/same-day recall vote — voters cast one ballot which has two parts: step one is the question of “Should this official be recalled?” and step two is “Who should be named as a replacement?” Colorado’s Constitution very clearly states that if you don’t vote on the recall question, any second vote is tossed out and doesn’t count. This is a ripe avenue for litigation, as California had the same provision in 2003. A US District Court tossed it out as unconstitutional (the case was not appealed). San Diego is facing the same question (which may very well be tossed out there as well). This one could be another minefield for the Secretary of State and the local Clerks.
Note that the California judicial ruling (Partnoy v. Shelley) was decided on the District Court level in a different circuit, so it’s not clear how much of a precedential value this ruling will have. Also, just to fill this blank in, the 2003 ruling was handed down by a Clinton-appointed Judge, so it is certainly possible that a Republican-appointed Judge would have a different holding.
As far as I can tell with a quick search, no other state has the two-step/same-day recall law for the state officials, so California is the only state law that would give a direct comparison. The other states are divided between a two-step/separate-day procedure (the replacement vote occurs on a later date); one-step/same-day (basically, the candidate faces off directly against challengers) and one-step/appointment (there is no election for the replacement; the vacant seat is replaced by an appointment).