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The Green Bag

tion in a court of competent jurisdiction. Being a removal, however, based upon arbitrary, capricious, or whimsi cal grounds, it could, of course, be tolerated in no forum save the great tribunal composed of the whole people. But accepting this Article 21 as a part of our organic law, a careful analysis of it discloses many features which, in my judgment, are capable of improve ment. The first paragraph of Section 1 of the Act provides that "Every elective public officer of the state of Colorado may be recalled from office." Standing alone, this language might be construed to apply only to state officers; but the fifth paragraph of Section 4 of the Act extends its application to county and municipal officers, and the seventh para graph of the same section, as nearly as language can make it, extends the Act to every officer obtaining his office from whatever source, or through whatever channel or avenue, if he discharges any governmental function. A study of the method and procedure described, and the effect thereof, is indeed interesting. It is provided that a petition signed by twenty-five per centum of the vote cast for all of the candidates for the office recall from which is sought, and filed with the proper officer, namely the officer with whom nominations for such office should be filed, shall be sufficient to set the machinery in motion. Such petition shall contain a general statement, in not more than two hundred words, of the grounds upon which the recall is sought. The only purpose of this statement is the edification of the electors, and the electors shall be the sole and exclusive judges of the legality, reasonableness, and sufficiency of the assigned grounds for such recall, and no review of their

determination upon that subject is per mitted. Section 2 of the Article provides a method for determining the regularity and legality of the signatures signed to the petition, and fixes the officer with whom the recalling petition is filed as a tribunal by which such protest must be determined. The hearing shall be sum mary, without delay, must be concluded within thirty days after such petition is filed, and the result thereof forthwith certified to the person or persons rep resenting the signers of such petition. In case the petition is not sufficient it may be withdrawn by the person, or majority of the persons, representing the signers of such petition, and there after amended and refiled as an original petition. The finding as to the sufficiency of any petition may be reviewed by any state court of general jurisdiction in the county in which such petition is filed, upon application of the person or per sons, or a majority of the persons, rep resenting the signers of such petition. The review is likewise summary. The tribunal of first instance as well as the reviewing court is barred from looking to the grounds of the petition in deter mining its sufficiency; that matter is left to the electorate. The petition once determined as sufficient, together with a certificate of its sufficiency, shall be presented to the Governor, who shall call an election thereupon, fixing the date not less than thirty nor more than sixty days from such submission, unless a general election is held within ninety days after the submission of such peti tion, in which event the recall shall be a part of such general election. Section 3 provides that if the officer sought to be recalled shall offer his resignation, it shall be accepted, and the vacancy thus created filled as provided by law. The person appointed to the