Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address on Thursday, Nov. 19, 1863, spoke to the importance of preserving the principles of democratic republicanism, which could only be done by allowing the act of governing to remain squarely in the hands of the people.

Political recall is defined as a system whereby the people can remove from office an elected official by vote through the introduction of an referendum before the end of the official term of office. Recall petitions can be done for failure to perform duties, incompetence, violation of an oath, corruption, conviction of a felony.

First and foremost is the ultimate control of the masses over officials and representatives. Recall also eliminates bribery and corruption by members. It is one of the best systems of direct democracy.

The million-dollar question is, why is recall limited to the county level here in Hawaii?

P.M. Azinga

Kakaako

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