Recall fears unlikely to worry Granholm

Recall fears unlikely to worry Granholm
By ALEKS TAPINSH
Capital News Service
Friday, September 5, 2003

LANSING – Recalls are upon us.

The recall election to oust Berrien Township Supervisor Ralph Hines failed Thursday.

But attempts to recall other local officials in Southwest Michigan are pending in Brandywine school district, Dowagiac and Howard Township.

And the California effort to recall Gov. Gray Davis is making national headlines.

How safe is Michigan governor?

“The general process is the same for the governor as it is for any other official in Michigan,” said John Clark, a political science professor at Western Michigan University.

Anyone hoping to recall a governor needs to file a petition with the election commission in the governor’s home county, said Bob LaBrant, political affairs counsel at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. The petition must clearly offer reasons for the recall, which, according to the Michigan Constitution, don’t have to be true. The reasons can be anything from a dislike of the governor’s choice of clothing to an abuse of office.

Currently there is no effort to recall Gov Jennifer Granholm, who received a 70-percent rating of excellent or good in an August poll by the Lansing-based EPIC/MRA firm. Twenty-five percent gave her a negative rating. The poll surveyed 600 likely voters and has a margin of error of 4 percent.

Once the language of a petition is approved, a person or group has 90 days to collect enough signatures -- equal to 25 percent of the total votes in the last gubernatorial election – to force a special election. In Michigan, if a group wanted to recall Granholm, it would have to collect 800,000 signatures in 90 days.

“It’s a more substantial effort than in California,” Clark said.

In California 1.3 million signatures were filed to recall Davis, far beyond the required 987,158.

Collecting enough signatures in a relatively short period of time can be an immense task.

It’s very difficult to recall a public official on the local level, said Edwin Vance, who began the effort to recall Berrien Township Supervisor Ralph Hines in Berrien County.

“There’s a lot of hard work to recall a public official,” Vance said.

“It takes a concerted effort,” agreed Howard Township resident Mike Smith, who is involved in an attempt to recall six out of seven Howard Township officials, who, he contends, misused finances. On the local and state levels, personal grudges usually don’t lead to a successful recall effort, Smith said.

“There have been a dozen or so of us that are out canvassing the petitions,” he said.

Smith said he has three more weeks left of the 90-day period allotted to collect enough signatures. Out of the required 438 signatures, nearly 400 have been collected, he said.

“We’re close to what we need,” Smith said.

Though recall attempts in Michigan have been successful against mayors, state senators and members of school boards, attempts to recall a governor have failed. Twice.

In 1983, there was a drive to recall Gov. James Blanchard and in 1991 to recall Gov. John Engler.

“It’s never happened that the petition was approved, so it’s never gone to the voters,” Clark said.