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Civics & Democracy

Californians Like Having The Right To Recall Elected Officials (Even Though Our Most Recent Recall Failed)

Voting information for the California gubernatorial recall election are shown organized by language in an office.
A new survey conducted by Claremont McKenna College found that Californians (and New Yorkers) support the right to recall.
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Robyn Beck
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AFP via Getty Images
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A majority of Californians and New Yorkers support the right to recall elected officials, according to a new study out of Claremont McKenna College.

That's even though New York doesn't have a recall process, and the majority of Californian voters were against recalling Governor Gavin Newsom.

Claremont McKenna assistant professor of government Andrew Sinclair told KPCC's Airtalk that party preference plays a big role in who embraces recall elections.

"So Republicans like it a lot… and Democrats kind of like it… but by fairly narrow majorities in both states. And that's probably a function of who they expect to get recalled. Since these are solidly Democratic states, the expectation is this could be a tool that would be wielded against Democratic elected officials," Sinclair says.

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The study also found that regardless of political leaning, supporters of the recall process tend to be populists, looking for people-driven change — think Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump fans — rather than more moderate or centrist voters.

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