There’s been a strong push as of late, by Republican legislators in the state and news media alike, to restrict the terms under which recall elections can occur. This call has come after an historic nine recall elections occurred this year alone, more than doubling the number of recalls that had previously been seen at the state legislative level.
… To alter the conditions of recalls would also ignore the intent of what recalls were all about. Our state constitution doesn’t limit why recalls can happen — in fact, no recall election at the legislative level has ever occurred on the bases or merits that the proposed constitutional amendment would restrict them under.
Only four recall elections of state legislators had occurred before this year. Only two of those were successful. Of those four, one occurred over constituents’ disagreements with that representative’s views on Indian treaty rights, another over a vote on a regional sales tax, and another over a legislator’s overly-compromising behavior, having crossed the partisan divide too many times and seemingly “selling out” his constituents.
The only reasonably close instance that may merit a recall under the new conditions being proposed was in 1932, when Sen. Otto Mueller refused to present himself at a roll call vote that then-Gov. Philip La Follette had ordered the legislature to convene on. But even that instance (which resulted in Mueller staving off a recall challenge) wouldn’t fit the terms of the proposal by Rep. Robin Vos.
Full Article: Political Heat: Moves to change recall election misguided.