Recall Governor Pawlenty and Lt. Governor Molneau?

By Ed Felien

Questions have been raised lately whether Governor Pawlenty and Lt. Governor Molneau should be recalled and a special election held to replace them.
According to the Minnesota House of Representatives research: "Recall is a method for Minnesota residents to recall or remove elected officials from office before the end of their term. Minnesotans approved a constitutional amendment in 1996 that enables recall.

Recall is one of four ways that elected officials can be removed from office. The other methods are impeachment for constitutional officers and judges, removal for judges, and expulsion or exclusion from office for legislators. Recall is detailed in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 211C, and article 8, section 6 of the Minnesota Constitution.

Since the inception of recall, no elected official has been recalled in Minnesota. Recall petitions have been filed, but the Minnesota Supreme Court found that they didn't meet the statutory requirements for recall.

State representatives, state senators, the governor, the lieutenant governor, the secretary of state, the state auditor, the attorney general, supreme court judges, court of appeals judges, and district judges are all subject to recall. State officers can be recalled for 'malfeasance,' 'nonfeasance,' and 'serious crime.'
Malfeasance means intentionally doing something unlawful or wrong while performing duties of the office; the act must be substantially outside of the scope of the officer's duties and substantially infringe upon another's rights. Nonfeasance means intentionally and repeatedly not performing required duties of the office. Serious crime means a crime that is a gross misdemeanor and involves assault, intentional injury, threat of injury, dishonesty, stalking, aggravated driving while intoxicated, coercion, obstruction of justice, or the sale or possession of controlled substances. Serious crime also means a misdemeanor crime that involves assault, intentional injury or threat of injury, dishonesty, coercion, obstruction of justice, or the sale or possession of controlled substances. An individual who is convicted of a felony is automatically removed from office, so a felony conviction is not specified as grounds for recall.
What is the process for recalling an elected official?

1) The petitioner submits a "proposed recall petition" to the secretary of state. The petition must name the grounds for recall and be signed by 25 eligible voters in the district the elected official represents.

2) The secretary of state verifies the petition's validity and sends it to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

3) The chief justice of the Supreme Court determines if the grounds for recall meet the statutory requirements within 10 days.

4) If the grounds for recall meet the statutory requirements, the chief justice appoints a special master to handle the recall.

5) The special master, an active or retired judge, must hold a public hearing on the recall petition within 21 days. The special master must decide if the person proposing the petition has shown that the allegations in the petition are true, and, if they are, whether the facts are sufficient grounds for recall.

6) After the public hearing, the special master has seven days to report his or her findings to the Supreme Court.

7) The Supreme Court has 20 days to decide if the grounds for recall have been met and order a recall petition. If the court finds that the grounds for recall have not been met, the process ends. If the court finds that there are grounds for recall, it will order the secretary of state to issue a recall petition.

8) After the secretary of state's office issues the recall petition, it must be signed within 90 days by 25 percent of the number of voters who voted in the last election. If the required number of signatures is not acquired within 90 days, the process ends.

9) Once the signatures are verified and certified by the secretary of state, the governor sets an election date.

10) If a majority of voters vote for the removal of a state official, that person is removed from office and the office is vacant.

A person can't falsely allege wrongdoing by a state officer in the recall petition. That person also can't threaten, intimidate, coerce or bribe eligible voters to sign or not sign a recall petition. If the Supreme Court finds that the person proposing the petition has violated the law in these ways, it can dismiss the petition.
How many other states have recall laws?

There are 18 states that permit recall. In addition to Minnesota, they are Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin. The District of Columbia also allows recall. Virginia allows for a recall trial rather than an election.

Minnesota was the most recent state to adopt a procedure for recall.
Michigan and Oregon were the first, adopting recall procedures in 1908."
The question that deserves public consideration is whether Governor Pawlenty and Lt. Governor Molneau (acting as Commissioner of the Department of Transportation) committed nonfeasance of office. That is, were they guilty of "intentionally and repeatedly not performing required duties of the office"? Did their refusal to take seriously the office of Commissioner of the Department of Transportation by appointing someone to that office of obvious incompetence and lack of training constitute a threat to public welfare? Did their refusal to take seriously warnings about the unsafe conditions of the 35W Bridge constitute a threat to public welfare? Did their vetoes of gas tax bills that would have provided funding for bridge and highway repair constitute a threat to public welfare?

The Governor of Minnesota is the highest elected official in the state. He is sworn to defend the public welfare. If it can be shown that his actions and the actions of the Lt. Governor endangered the public welfare, then they deserve to be recalled.