Cunningham

The determinative issue on this appeal concerns the validity of a petition to recall two couneilmen of the City of Stanton; arises out of a refusal of the city council to call an election in response to such petition; and is presented through an application for a writ of mandate to compel that body to proceed. Upon application of one of the proponents of the recall, the trial court granted the writ, and the city council appeals from the order so made.

The statutes applicable to the instant proceedings are those contained in the Elections Code prior to its amendment in 1961. For this reason citations from that code herein will designate the prior section number followed, in brackets, by the present section number.

An essential step in the recall of an elected city official is the filing of a petition, in form and substance as prescribed by the statute, which demands his recall and is signed by a designated percentage of the voters. (Elec. Code, § 11101 [27501].) In the instant case, following an authorized practice (Elec. Code, § 11108 [27508]), the proponents of the recall caused several sections of the petition in question to be circulated among the voters for the purpose of…