By Helen Hutchison
The Oakland City Charter allows for recalls of elected officials, including the mayor. The Charter says that these elections are ruled by the California Elections Code. The Elections Code rules were recently changed, so the recall – yes or no - will be the only question on the November ballot. Unlike in previous recall elections, we won’t also choose who should be the new mayor if the recall prevails.
If the recall does prevail, then the City Charter takes over for how we fill the vacancy. The President of the City Council will take over as temporary mayor upon certification of the recall election, and until a special election to fill the office is held. That election needs to be held within 120 days. This can be extended to 180 days if the election can be consolidated with a regularly scheduled election. The election will be held using ranked choice voting (RCV). The person elected will fill the remainder of the current term, which in the case of the Mayor is until January 2027. If there was less than one year remaining in the term, the President of the City Council would simply serve as mayor until a new person was elected.