This Petition is to be sent to The Indiana House of Representatives and the Indiana Senate  to amend the Indiana Constitution so the people are able to retain the power to recall ANY elected official that are not listening to their constituents, not retaining the confidence of the public, or overstepping the duties and roles of the position to which they are elected.

This process will allow the people to retain their respective voices and also hold officials accountable between election cycles. As of this moment in time, the only way we have to hold those officials accountable is to simply vote them out in the election cycles. As a population we have a duty to ask questions and be engaged with OUR government because they are supposed to represent us THE PEOPLE!

We The People need a way to redress our grievances to our representatives and senators if they are not doing their jobs, or they are blatantly ignoring the will of the people. This petition, need as many signatures as possible. Without having a way to voice our disapproval, and a way to hold those accountable, elected officials can run rampant with power and wreak havoc on the populous to stay on just the right side of legal. we simply just cannot allow them to do so and this Petition will do just that. 

COMES NOW, Justin W. Cravens, a Registered Voter within the State of Indiana, County of Fulton; Liberty Township to address an issue with regards to the lack thereof rights for citizens to recall their elected officials.

1.      The lack of the Right for the voters having the ability to recall their elected officials between election cycles needs to be addressed;

2.      The Rights of the Voters to have confidence in their elected officials is paramount;

3.      Elected officials should listen to the concerns of their constituents from the local City/County levels to the State Level to which the laws are passed and signed into law, and take the concerns seriously;

4.      Voters at this point, have no way to Redress grievances to Elected officials between election cycles.

I, Justin W. Cravens, wish for the Indiana State Constitution of 1851, to be amended for Registered Legal Voters, to redress grievances at ALL LEVELS of State and County Governments for Duly Elected Officials.

            Elected officials have a solemn duty to not only listen to their constituents, but also, address concerns coming from their constituents, and rectify any problems which arise from time to time. The Constituents, on the other hand, have an obligation to hold elected officials to Standards.  Normally, the process is to vote out the Elected Officials are not fulfilling their obligations to Constituents. In between cycles, however, the only safeguard that we have is Impeachment, but if the Elected Official(s) break no laws, yet is not Serving the Constituents, there is currently no process for the removal from office. This should be cause for concern for everyone. We simply cannot allow elected officials within any level of government to be able to hold office and not listen to the will of the People within their township, city, county, district, or state. Therefore, I implore the Legislative Branch of Indiana to Amend the Indiana State Constitution of 1851, for the Voters that reside within the State of Indiana, to petition for removal of ANY ELECTED OFFICIAL for causation, dereliction, or non-confidence.

            PROPOSED AMENDMENT

            The Will and Power of the People shall be granted to the Registered Voters within The State of Indiana for the Following;

1.      The of Right of Petition of Redress of Grievances for Elected Official(s) to be removed from office between election cycles using a petition. There must be signatures with Identification with at least Thirty-Percent of Registered Indiana Voters, the reason for petition must be stated, Date, and must be for causes such as dereliction to constituents, the will of the people not being met, and a call for no-confidence within the voters.

2.      Once Thirty-Percent has been reached, the Petition shall be sent to The Local Recorder of the Origination Person(s) County to be recorded. Upon Recording of the Petition, the Petition shall be sent to Both, The District Representative, and the District Senator of the Origination Person. Each Petition shall be signed by the Origination person, and a witness of Notary Public to be binding.

3.      Once these obligations for the Petition are met, Both the State House of Representatives and The State Senate shall hold a joint hearing to verify the validity of the petition to where Signatures, Recorder stamp, and Witness stamps are present within the Petition;

4.      Once the verification is complete, The State House of Representatives and State Senate, shall hold a vote of removal For Elected State official(s); Counties with petitions for removal of local elected officials shall follow the same process to EXCEPT the Board of Commissioners shall preside over local removals from office and the County Sheriff will be responsible to ensure the process is fair and impartial and the decision is upheld and that responsibility shall not be delegated.

5.      This process shall only be used, in between election cycles, only if the elected official(s) is breaking NO LAW which limit the action(s) of Impeachment or Sanctions within the State Legislature or Boards of Commissioners. This Amendment Shall only be used by citizens and not Government officials currently holding elected positions.

CONCLUSION

            As citizens and voters, we have an inherent and solemn responsibility not only to elect officials to represent us as We the People, but also, hold those elected accountable when they do not perform the duties of their elected position, or represent the will of the people. We must work hand in hand to ensure that the people maintain and retain accountability to our Elected Officials.   Our Legislature is currently limited to sanctions impeachment, ONLY IF, laws are being broken and cases of Treason. The way to rectify this problem of limited power from the Legislature to act, is for the people to have a venue to remove the Elected Official(s) with the aid of the Legislature, and local offices. Without having the ability to recall elected officials, the people are left having to suffer with officials that have no desire to hear the people, act on behalf of the people, and not imposing the will of the people. The proposed amendment referenced above is the solution for this problematic issue. The people need assurance that We have legal recourse in the event of such actions. Without some sort of recourse, there are currently no ways for people to hold their elected officials accountable.