According to the PPIC poll, Gov. Gavin Newsom's approval rating for jobs and economy was 56 percent. Jeff Chiu/AP Photo Poll - California's voters want to reform the state's recall processSAN FRANCISCO The governor. A poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found that a majority of California voters support reforming the recall process in order to make it more difficult to remove elected officials midterm. Gavin Newsom is facing a recall election in September.Sixty percent said they would support changing state rules to ensure that officials cannot be removed from office for illegal or unethical conduct. Fivety-five percent support increasing the required number of signatures to hold a recall vote.Although the PPIC poll did not ask voters about their views on Newsom's recall, a poll by Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies this week found that Newsom had 50 percent support compared to 47 percent in the likely voter group.According to the PPIC poll, Newsom's approval rating among likely voters was 56 percent for jobs and the economy.A separate top-two election was suggested to amend recall rules. This would be held if the recall succeeds, and no replacement candidate receives less than 50% of the vote. Sixty-eight% of likely voters supported the change, which included majorities of Democrats and Republicans, as well as independents. The current system allows for a small majority of voters to elect a replacement candidate.Voters said that they prefer to keep the recall option, rather than eliminate it. Eighty-six per cent said that they believe it is good that the state constitution permits the recall of elected officials. However, 69 percent, including 90 percent of Democrats, and 36 percent from Republicans feel the current recall price tag is a waste. PPIC asked voters to provide information about the cost of recalling elected officials in the early projections. However, state leaders have now estimated that it will ultimately cost $276 million.Modifying the constitution to change the recall process would be necessary. This would require another statewide ballot measure. In a blog post accompanying this article, Mark Baldassare, President and CEO of PPIC, suggested "creating a bipartisan committee that offers policy recommendations to California voters for consideration on the November 2022 statewide election ballot."The PPIC poll, which included 1,569 California residents, was conducted July 6-14. It has a 3.4 percentage margin of error. The margin of error is 4.2 percent for questions that involve 937 likely voters.
