Section 21-4-5. Recall petition -- Application for and time of filing; sponsors; withdrawal of signature; duties of election superintendent; printing and distribution of recall petition forms by Secretary of State

   (a) No application for a recall petition may be filed during the first 180 days or during the last 180 days of the term of office of any public official subject to recall. No person shall be authorized to circulate, sponsor, or sign such application unless such person is an elector or sponsor as defined in Code Section 21-4-3.
   (b)(1) The application shall include:

      (A) The name and office of the person sought to be recalled;

      (B) The printed names and signatures of the official sponsors, the date signed, residence addresses, and the name of the county of residence;

      (C) The designation of one of the sponsors as the petition chairperson who shall represent the sponsors on all matters pertaining to the recall application and petition;
 
         (D) A statement that:                  (name and office) has, while holding 
public office, conducted himself or herself in a manner which relates to and 
adversely affects the administration of his or her office and adversely 
affects the rights and interests of the public and stating the appropriate 
ground or grounds for recall as set forth in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (7) 
of Code Section 21-4-3 with a brief statement of the fact or facts upon which 
the ground or grounds are based. Such statement shall be typed, printed, or 
reproduced by the election superintendent on the face of each application 
issued; and
         (E)(i) An affidavit by the petition chairperson and the person circulating such recall application that each person sponsoring or signing such recall application is an elector of the electoral district of the officer sought to be recalled and that the fact or facts upon which the ground or grounds for recall are based are true.

         (ii) The affidavit required by division (i) of this subparagraph shall be in the following form:
 
 
                          AFFIDAVIT OF CIRCULATOR AND                          
                             PETITION CHAIRPERSON                              

         State of Georgia
         County of         
            Under the penalty of a violation of Code Section 16-10-71 of the 
         Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to false swearing, 
         punishable by a fine not to exceed $1,000.00 or by imprisonment of 
         not less than one nor more than five years, or both, we the 
         undersigned do depose and say that each person sponsoring or signing 
         the recall application of          is an elector of the electoral 
         district of the officer sought to be recalled and further depose and 
         say that the fact or facts upon which the ground or grounds for 
         recall are based are true.
 
                                                                              
 
                                                      (Signature of circulator)
 
 
                                                                              
 
                                                            (Residence address)
 
                                                   (Number and street or route)
 
                                                                              
 
                                                                         (City)
 
                                                                              
 
                                                         (Signature of petition
 
                                                                   chairperson)
 
                                                                              
 
                                                            (Residence address)
 
                                                   (Number and street or route)
 
                                                                              
 
                                                                         (City)
         Subscribed and sworn to
         before me this         
         day of         ,     .
                             
         Notary public
              , Georgia
            My commission expires on the          day of         ,     .

No notary public may sign the application as an elector or serve as a circulator of any application which he or she notarized. Any and all sheets of an application for a recall petition that have the circulator's affidavit notarized by a notary public who also served as a circulator of one or more sheets of the application for a recall petition or who signed one of the sheets of the petition as an elector shall be disqualified and rejected.

   (2) Applications shall be issued by the election superintendent who shall assign a number to each application. Such number shall appear on the face of each application. The election superintendent shall keep records of applications issued, including the date of issuance and number assigned. The election superintendent shall immediately notify in writing the public officer named for recall in the application that an application for a recall petition has been officially issued for circulation.

   (3) The official application forms shall be printed by the office of the Secretary of State in substantially the form prescribed in this subsection and distributed to election superintendents.

(c) The number of official sponsors necessary to file an application for a recall petition must be equal in number to at least 100 electors or equal in number to at least 10 percent of the number of electors who were registered to vote at the last preceding election for any of the candidates offering for the office held by the public official sought to be recalled, whichever is smaller.

(d) Sponsors of a recall petition, before causing the petition to be circulated, shall submit the application for the petition to the election superintendent designated in Code Section 21-4-3 and request official recall petition forms.

(e) At any time prior to the date the election superintendent receives the application for a recall petition, an elector who has signed the application as an official sponsor may request withdrawal of his or her signature from the application by executing and filing an affidavit signed and sworn to before a notary public which affirms the elector's intention to withdraw his or her signature from the application. The official affidavit of signature withdrawal shall be printed by the office of the Secretary of State and distributed to election superintendents. The form of the affidavit shall be substantially as prescribed in Code Section 21-4-9.
   (f)(1) No application for a recall petition shall be accepted for verification if more than 15 days have elapsed since the application forms were issued to the sponsors. If an application for a recall petition contains more than one sheet, such application, when offered for filing, shall be bound together and each sheet shall be numbered consecutively at the foot of each page beginning with page one.

   (2) On receipt of the application, the election superintendent shall file the application and proceed to determine the legal sufficiency of the application and determine if the signers are qualified electors eligible to sign the application. The election superintendent is granted unrestricted authority to examine the registration records maintained by the board of registrars, to receive evidence and testimony, and to require the personal appearance of any person signing such application for the purpose of making such determination. If the election superintendent finds that any signer is not a qualified elector eligible to sign the application, such signature shall not be counted in determining whether the application contains a sufficient number of signatures as required by law. The nullification of a signature on an application shall not affect the validity of other signatures contained in such application. The election superintendent shall certify the legal sufficiency or insufficiency of the application for a recall petition within five days after receiving the application, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays; provided, however, that the judge of the superior court may, upon proper application and good cause shown, grant an additional period of time not to exceed 15 days for the election superintendent to verify the application.

   (3) The election superintendent shall immediately notify in writing the public officer named for recall in the application that a completed application for a recall petition has been filed with the election superintendent for verification.

(g) No application for a recall petition shall be amended, supplemented, or returned after it has been filed with the election superintendent for verification.

(h) Upon certifying the legal sufficiency of the application, the election superintendent shall immediately officially file the certification of the application, issue official recall petition forms, assign a number to the recall petition, which number shall appear on the face of each petition form, and issue that number to the sponsors. A record of each application, including the date of its receipt and the number assigned and issued to the sponsors, shall be maintained by the election superintendent.

(i) The election superintendent shall immediately notify in writing the public officer named for recall in the application that a recall petition has been officially issued for circulation.

(j) The official recall petition forms shall be printed by the office of the Secretary of State and distributed to election superintendents. The form of the petition shall be as provided in Code Section 21-4-7.

Code 1981, § 21-4-5, enacted by Ga. L. 1989, p. 1721, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 1939, §§ 2-4; Ga. L. 1999, p. 21, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 23, § 3; Ga. L. 2001, p. 230, § 19.