5: CHANGES RECALL ELECTION PROCESS FOR STATEWIDE OFFICERS. LEGISLATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. (Vote NO)

What it does

Under current law, voters elect replacement candidates at the same time as the recall election. This measure instead fills recall vacancies by subsequent special election or appointment. Fiscal Impact: Net fiscal effect unknown. In the event of a recall, savings or costs of millions of dollars to administer the election depending on the office recalled.

Why Thrive LA opposes 5

Proposition 5 would eliminate the replacement-candidate question from California recall elections. Under current law, when voters recall a state officeholder, they simultaneously choose a successor on the same ballot. This measure strips that second question away. If a governor is recalled, the lieutenant governor simply takes over. If another executive officer is recalled, the governor appoints a replacement. Legislative vacancies would be filled by special election at a later date. This is a power grab dressed up as procedural reform. The entire point of a recall is to give voters a direct check on officeholders who have lost the public's confidence. Proposition 5 guts that check by ensuring the recalled official's political allies control the succession. A recalled governor would be replaced by a lieutenant governor from the same party, chosen on the same ticket, carrying the same agenda voters just rejected. A recalled statewide officer would be replaced by a gubernatorial appointee, not by the people. The recall becomes an empty gesture: voters can fire someone, but they have no say over who takes the job. California's recall process exists precisely because representative government sometimes fails. Incumbents accumulate power; party structures protect their own. The simultaneous replacement election is what gives a recall real consequences. It forces the political establishment to compete for the seat on the spot, in front of the electorate, rather than fill it behind closed doors. Proposition 5 would turn a democratic safety valve into a rubber stamp for the party in power. The measure's backers are almost exclusively Democratic elected officials and aligned organizations. That tells you everything about who benefits. This is not about simplifying elections or saving money (the fiscal impact is negligible either way). It is about insulating the ruling majority from the only tool voters have to hold them directly accountable between elections. Vote No on Proposition 5. The recall belongs to the voters, not the political establishment.

Key points

Voters Lose Their Voice: Proposition 5 eliminates the replacement-candidate ballot question, stripping voters of the ability to choose a successor during a recall. Vacancies would instead be filled by gubernatorial appointment or automatic succession.

Protects the Party in Power: If a governor is recalled, the lieutenant governor (same party, same ticket, same agenda) automatically takes over. For other offices, the governor handpicks a replacement. The political establishment is insulated from real accountability.

Recalls Become Meaningless: A recall without a replacement election is a vote to shuffle chairs within the same political machine. Voters expend enormous effort to recall an officeholder only to have the same faction retain the seat.

No Fiscal Justification: The Legislative Analyst's Office estimates the fiscal impact at millions of dollars per recall, less than one-tenth of one percent of the General Fund. This is not a cost-saving measure. It is a structural change to who holds power.

Backed by Incumbents, Not Reformers: The measure's supporters are sitting Democratic officeholders and party-aligned organizations. No credible nonpartisan reform group is championing this change. The beneficiaries wrote the bill.

What it does

Why Thrive LA opposes 5

Key points

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