(originally titled "(sheepish look) So, about that Snyder Recall effort...")
hinky: Acting suspiciously; strange, unusual; acting in a manner as if having something to hide, or seemingly crooked.
So, last night I posted a diary called Before we go recalling Rick Snyder... in which I threw a bit of cold "reality" water on the quickly-ramping-up drive to ask for a do-over here in Michigan.
My rationale was simple: According to the Michigan Constitution, it appeared that, in the event of a successful recall of The Nerd, there would NOT be a special election a la Grey Davis in California; instead, his Lt. Governor, Brian Calley (a tea party fave-rave) would take over as governor...for the rest of the term:
26 Succession to governorship: (pdf)
Sec. 26. In case of the conviction of the governor on impeachment, his removal from office, his resignation or his death, the lieutenant governor, the elected secretary of state, the elected attorney general and such other persons designated by law shall in that order be governor for the remainder of the governor’s term
HOWEVER, this morning I was informed that this is not relevant in the event of a recall situation!! Thanks to memiller over at Blogging for Michigan for pointing out that, if I had read the whole State Constitution, I would've found this section as well:
§ 8 Recalls:
Sec. 8. Laws shall be enacted to provide for the recall of all elective officers except judges of courts of record upon petition of electors equal in number to 25 percent of the number of persons voting in the last preceding election for the office of governor in the electoral district of the officer sought to be recalled. The sufficiency of any statement of reasons or grounds procedurally required shall be a political rather than a judicial question.
Michigan Election Law:
168.69 Governor or lieutenant governor; recall.
Sec. 69. Any person elected to the office of governor or lieutenant governor shall be subject to recall as provided in chapter 36 of this act and in section 8 of article 2 of the state constitution.
168.970 Recall of officer; vacancy.
Sec. 970. Upon the filing of the certificate of the canvassing board showing the recall of the officer as herein provided, the officer empowered by law to perform the duties of such recalled official, in the event of such officer's absence, death, illness or inability to act, shall perform and discharge the duties of the office so vacated until the successor to fill such vacancy is duly elected and qualified as herein provided or until the vacancy is temporarily filled. Where power to fill a vacancy by appointment exists, then in such case such office shall be filled in the same manner by temporary appointment effective until a successor shall be duly elected and qualified as herein provided, otherwise, the governor of the state may fill such vacancy until said recalled officer's successor is elected and qualified.
168.971 Special election; appointment of review team; applicability of section.
(1) If the recall is successful, a special election to fill the vacancy shall be held on the next regular election date. The provisions in section 964 for calling and conducting of the recall election govern the calling and conducting of the election to fill the vacancy created, except as otherwise provided in this section.
In other words, in the words of Emily Litella...
IMPORTANT UPDATE: According to secondgen in the comments below, something VERY hinky is going on here:
The information I got was from a guy who works at SOS, and he stated "one of the most experienced directors in the State Bureau of Elections," told him that no special election takes place, and "I've spoken with 2 election law specialists" who said the same thing. (He's in Lansing, by the way)
I asked him for a citation he gave me MCL 168.951-976. I haven't been able to find it, but I'm having concentration issues the last couple days.
I know this guy enough to know he also wants Snyder recalled, but he was led to believe it can't be done, and he would be involved in it, due to his job in elections, so he's getting this directly. So, it bothers me twofold: Either they're lying and spreading false propaganda to discourage people from trying, or they're right, and it can't be done.
Here's my take: they've already had meetings specifically about this, so they must be scared.
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I wonder if these assholes are going to try to claim the Governor succession rule prevails. I'll bet that's what's happening. They're trying to get out in front of it and convince others that Calley would be next in line if there were a recall.
He was told all of the above, but the Governor's office is the one exception to the special elections rule.
This is what he messaged me privately: "Call 800-292-5973 and ask to speak to an election specialist. I'm sure they can point out the exact law. (Or possibly you'll prove them wrong.) "
I might just do this. Who knows if I'll get the truth.
As I said, it's his job, and he was posting this on FB, and didn't want to get too involved publicly with his own feelings...
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Just called and spoke to "Dave"...(will get his last name later) he is calling me back, and he, too, is insisting that the position is filed by Lt. Gov.
He's calling me back with statute citation. I suspect it's the same as what we're going around and around on.
If so, I believe he's wrong.
One of the first things he said when I contradicted him was: "This is probably going to have to go through litigation."
They're banking on us giving up!
Meanwhile, I checked the pertinent sections of Michigan Election Law he referred to and found these:
Michigan Recall Procedures: A General Overview (pdf)
Michigan’s recall process is governed under Michigan election law, MCL 168.951-976. The statutes can be accessed through the website maintained by the Michigan State Legislature.
...which in turn leads to these:
Section 168-951
Section 168-952
Section 168-953
...and so on...just change the last number in the link to 954, 955, 956 and so on through 976...I don't have time to go through all of it, but these are the pertinent sections he was referring to.