Committee hears bill raising thresholds for city and school-board recall petitions, adds option to cancel election when no challenger files

The House Political Subdivisions Committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 22-69, which would increase signature and sponsor thresholds for recall petitions in city and school-board elections and add an option to cancel a recall election when no challenger or official write-in candidate files.

Senator Christian Rohr, sponsor, said the bill responds to concerns that low primary-turnout thresholds make it relatively easy for small groups to trigger recall elections for municipal and school-board officials. Rohr described examples — including Horace and Dickinson — where petitions filed from small numbers of voters led to recall elections and local fiscal costs. The bill would raise the percentage-of-vote signature threshold used for primaries to a higher level for city and school-board recalls and increase the number of required sponsors from five to 15.

Rohr said the bill also adopts a write-in candidacy backstop modeled on existing law: if no challenger files by the normal deadline, an official write-in candidate may file within a short window; if no official write-in or petitioned challenger files, the election may be canceled so the jurisdiction is not required to expend funds to reconfirm a recalled official when no opponent is available.

Corey Peterson of the League of Cities, who served as Horace mayor, testified in support and described recalls he observed tied to local grievances and rapid growth. Secretary of State Michael Howe testified that the provision allowing cancellation of elections where no challenger files applies to all offices and confirmed the increased signature threshold in the bill applies only to city and school elections. The committee did not vote on the measure and said it would take the bill up in a subsequent meeting to allow more committee work and public input.