Recall and No Confidence

By the time you are reading this, it is likely that California Governor Gavin Newsom will either have survived a recall election, or will have been removed as Governor. But the timing of the election, the same day as Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney faces what is almost certain to be an unsuccessful motion of no confidence, and it begs the question, ‘Should Ireland have a recall process?’

For those unaware of the process, following incompetence or scandal (Governor Newsom was caught breaking his own COVID rules, sound familiar?), the minimum of 12% of the California electorate signed a petition to hold a recall election, which is composed of two parts.

Firstly will Newsom stay or go, which requires 50% approval (he was elected with 62% of the vote), and if the electorate choose for him to go, then Part II of the ballot will come into effect, who will replace him?

A motion of no confidence usually requires the government of the day to turn against one of their own, whereas a recall gives the power to the people of that representative’s constituency. The process of course could do with a little tweaking, such as a petition requirement of somewhere between 30%-50% of registered voters, and perhaps just one ballot paper presented in a by-election style format.

But rather than us all sitting at home, knowing that the Foreign Affairs Minister will face no consequences for his actions, the people of Cork could be out at the ballot box today, giving their own view on the matter. It will likely be another three years before the people decide if they want Minister Coveney representing their constituency, and even more likely to be a lot longer until there is a system to recall a political representative in Ireland, if ever.

While Newsom looks likely to escape any consequences for breaking the rules he imposed on the people of California, at least Californians have a say as to whether or not his actions justify him being removed from his position, whereas in Ireland we only get to remove our political representatives every 5 – 7 years during the election cycle.

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