Prop 5: Recall Reform

Bay Curious

This episode of Bay Curious explores Proposition 5, a proposed change to California's statewide recall process for the 2026 ballot. The disc

Key takeaways

Proposition 5 aims to eliminate the second question on statewide recall ballots regarding who should replace an official.
Currently, a successor can win a recall election without a majority vote if they finish first in the replacement pool.

Main topics

California Proposition 5
Statewide recall reform

Notable quotes

This would only apply to statewide offices like governor, like attorney general and like state legislative offices.

Conclusion

The episode provides a comprehensive breakdown of the structural impli

Transcript preview

Speaker 5 (0:01) From KQED. Speaker 3 (0:04) The Wired Newsroom is known for award-winning reporting on how technology shapes our world. On Wired's Uncanny Valley, we take that curiosity even further. Each week, journalists from Wired break down the biggest stories in tech while speaking directly with the people building, challenging, and reshaping the future. Is the AI boom sustainable? How do you protect your privacy in an age of constant surveillance? Uncanny Valley tackles the questions driving today's tech debates and lighting up your group chats. Listen to new episodes every Thursday. wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 1 (0:35) The firehose of news from Speaker 5 (0:37) America can feel like a lot these days. Speaker 7 (0:40) If you're trying to figure out what to make of it all, we got you. Speaker 5 (0:44) I'm Katie Simpson. And Speaker 7 (0:45) I'm Paul Hunter. We're correspondents here in Washington. Speaker 5 (0:48) Working just around the corner from where much of the action is taking place. Speaker 7 (0:53) Two blocks from the White House. Speaker 5 (0:54) And that's the name of our podcast. For Speaker 7 (0:56) top-notch analysis of U.S. politics from a Canadian perspective. Find Two Blocks in the White House every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 1 (1:05) Including YouTube. A Speaker 7 (1:07) reporter receives a shocking tip about something that happened inside a woman's prison. He starts asking questions, and what she uncovers is far bigger than one disturbing event. A deeply entrenched system, the people it protects, and the women who risk everything to challenge it from the inside. Snap Studios and KQED present We Are Jane Doe. a three-part investigative series. Listen on Snap Judgment wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 8 (1:35) You may remember that in 2021, California voters were asked whether or not to recall Governor Gavin Newsom from office. But Speaker 5 (1:45) there was also a second question on the ballot. Who should replace him if he was Speaker 8 (1:50) recalled? Obviously, the recall failed. But if it was successful... Newsom would have technically been replaced by Republican Larry Elder, who won about 48 percent of the vote in that second question. And Speaker 5 (2:05) that's how the process works for statewide recall elections right now. But Speaker 8 (2:09) Proposition 5 could change that. Speaker 5 (2:13) I'm Olivia Allen Price, host of Bay Curious. And Speaker 8 (2:16) I'm Erika Cruz-Gavara, host of The Bay. Speaker 5 (2:19) Welcome to PropFest, a collaboration between The Bay and Bay Curious. And we're back again with another episode to help you get up to speed on all the statewide propositions on the ballot this November. Speaker 8 (2:30) Today, we're breaking down Proposition 5. Here's how it reads on your ballot. Speaker 2 (2:35) Prop 5. Changes recall election process for statewide officers. Speaker 1 (2:43) Here to break it down for us is KQED's politics and government correspondent, Guy Marzorati. Hey, Guy. Hey, how's it going? Good. So this proposition that we're talking about today pertains to recall reform. Before we dive in here, how exactly do recalls for people in statewide office currently work in California? Speaker 2 (3:07) Yeah, so the rules for recall in California are different. for state office and local office. For local office, it's probably somewhat of a familiar process for people. There's a question on the ballot, should this person be removed from office? If they are removed, then how the next person gets chosen can result in a variety of ways. So if you remember the Oakland mayor recall, there was a special election after that. There was the district attorney recalls in Alameda and SF. The replacements there were appointed. State recalls work a little bit differently, where voters are asked two questions on the ballot. One is, should this statewide official be removed? And then the second question is, if they are removed, who should replace them? And there's a list of candidates that voters get to choose from. Speaker 2 (3:58) And what proposition five would do is eliminate that second question, that question about the successor. Speaker 1 (4:06) And as you just mentioned, and just to clarify for voters, Prop