If the Board of County Election Commission or, on appeal from the Circuit Court determines the reasons for recall to be factual and sufficiently clear, the petition may be freely circulated for signatures.
Approved recall language is valid for 180 days after either of the following, whichever occurs later:
A. The date the language was approved by the County Election Commission, or
B. The sooner of:
The date the language was approved by the Circuit Court.
40 days after the date of the appeal.
Forming a Political Committee
Sponsors of a recall that receive or spend $500 or more in a calendar year are required to form a Political Committee and file all appropriate campaign finance reports. All Campaign Finance reports are filed with the County Clerk.
The Petition Form
- Recall petitions must conform to the specifications prescribed by the Secretary of State (MCL 168.952).
- A separate petition must be circulated for each officer whose recall is sought (MCL168.958a).
- Before a recall petition can be circulated, the circulator must complete the "heading" of each petition sheet by filling in:
- The city or township and county where the sheet will be circulated
- The name of the officer whose recall is sought
- The title of the office
- The office district (if any)
- The exact reasons for recall approved by the Board of County Election Commission or Circuit Court.

Circulation of Recall Petitions
- Recall petitions are circulated within the district represented by the officer whose recall is sought (MCL 168.954).
- The sheet may not be circulated outside of the jurisdiction listed in the petition heading. (Note: recall petitions may not be circulated on a "countywide" petition form.)
- A circulator of a recall petition does not have to be registered to vote and need not reside in the electoral district or the State of Michigan.
- The petition may not contain signatures of voters who live outside the city or township specified in the heading.
- The circulator may not leave a recall petition unattended in a public place; all signatures must be signed in the presence of the circulator (MCL 168.957).
- The circulator must complete, sign and date the "circulator's certificate" on the petition sheet, after gathering the last signature on that petition sheet. Circulators must indicate their residence address and city or township of residence on the circulator's certificate.
- Signatures on a sheet which are dated after the date on the circulator's certificate are not valid.
Signers of Recall Petitions
- Signers of recall petitions must be registered to vote in the electoral district of the official whose recall is sought.
- Each signer must list his or her signature, address, zip code and the date of signing.
- Ditto marks are not permitted for address or date.
- If the recall petition is circulated within a city or school district that crosses county lines, each signer must be instructed to sign on a petition sheet with the name of his or her county of residence in the heading (MCL 168.958).
- All signatures must be signed in the presence of the circulator (MCL 168.957).
- A signer is not permitted to sign, date or enter the address for another voter. All voter information must be in the voter's own hand. For example: a wife may not sign for her husband (MCL 168.954).
Required Number of Signatures
- The number of signatures needed to trigger a recall election is 25% of the votes cast in the officer's district for all candidates for the office of Governor in the last gubernatorial general election.
The County Clerk will provide the minimum number of valid signatures needed upon written request. The figure will be calculated and delivered to the requestor within 5 days after the County Clerk receives the written request. (If the 5th day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the County Clerk has until the following business day to honor the request.
While approved recall language is valid for 180 days, the signatures on a petition form are valid for 60 days (MCL 168.961). Signatures older than 60 days before filing the petition sheet with the County Clerk are invalid.